CEMBER  13,  1951 


PAGE  ONE 


EDITED  HARPER'S  BAZAAR: 


|  Mary  Booth  Yaphank  Native  j 

By  Thomas  R.  Bayles 

A  native  daughter  of  Yaphank  who  became  famous  for  her 
literary  accomplishments  was  Mary  Louise  Booth,  who  was  born 
at  Yaphank  on  April  19,  1831. 

She  was  boxn  in  a  small  story-and-a-half  house  on  the  north 
side  of  the  road  running  east  from  4> 


the    postoffice,   a    house    which    is 

still  standing  in  a   well-preserved 

condition.     Mary's  father,  William 

Booth,  was  the  village  miller  and 

schoolteacher,  and  a  direct  descen- 

I  dant  of  the  first  Booth  who  came 

I  to  Southold  in  1640.     Her  mother 

was   a   daughter  of   a   refugee   of 

the  French  Revolution. 

Her  father  had  a  small  woolen 
mill  and  dye  house  which  he  op- 
erated in  Yaphank,  and  also  was 
schoolteacher  during  the  winter 
months  when  he  taught  the  few 
children  of  the  vHlage  in  a  small 
building. 

Mary  Booth  received  her  early 
education  in  Yaphank  and  when 
she  was  14  years  old  her  family 
moved  to  Williamsburgh,  where 
her  father  opened  a  school  and 
she  assisted  him  in  teaching. 

.  Later,  she  devoted  her  time  to 
sTudy  and  literature  and  during 
this  time  Miss  Booth  started  work 
on  her  "History  of  the  City  of 
New  York,"  the  first  edition  of 
which  was  published  in  1859.  An 
enlarged  edition  was  published 
eight  years  later,  and  in  1880  a 
third  one  was  published.  By  this 
time  the  author  had  become  one 
of  the  leading  writers  of  the 
country. 

Miss  Booth  was  strongly  oppos- 
ed to  slavery,  and  with  the  out- 
break of  the  Civil  War  began  a 
series  of  translations  of  French 
\vriters  of  that  day  who  favored 


the  Union  cause.  These  appeared 
in  1861  and  her  work  was  praised 
by  President  Lincoln. 

In  1867,  when  Harper's  Bazaar 
was  first  published,  Miss  Booth 
was  chosen  as  its  first  editor,  and 
held  the  position  until  her  death. 

She  grew  up  during  the  years 
when  whale  fishing  was  at  its 
height,  and  it  is  said  that  she  fell 
deeply  in  love  with  a  young  man 
who  was  son  of  a  whaleship  cap- 
tain. He  sailed  for  the  Arctic 
and  his  ship  and  all  on  board  were 
lost.  It  is  believed  that  this  tragic 
incident  of  her  early  life  prompt- 
ed her  to  devote  her  life  to  litera- 
ture. 

She  died  on  March  5,  1889  and 
was  buried  in  the  family  plot  in 
Cypress  Hills  cemetery. 


PRIMITIVE  CHRISTIANITY 

While  men  believe  in  the  possi- 
bilities of  children  being  religious, 
the/  are  largely  failing  to  make 
them  so,  because  they  are  offer- 
ing them  not  a  child's  but  a  man's 
religion  —  men's  forms  of  truth 
and  men's  forms  of  experience. 

— Phillips  Brooks 


Its  circulation 
blankets  Patchogue 
and  surrounding  villages 
like  the  dew! 

THE  PATCHOGUE  ADVANCE 
"The  People's  Paper" 


»  4 

i 


t 


/J. 


YAPHANK  AS  IT  IS, 


AND 


WAS,  AND  WILL  BE. 


CONTAINING 

BIOGRAPHICAL     SKETCHES      OP      ALL      ITS      PROMINENT     MEN,     THE 

CHARACTERISTIC  PROCLIVITIES  OF  ITS  "FUNNY"  PEOPLE,  ITS 

BrSIVESS    AND    lU'SINESS     "  MON'ARCHS,"    ITS    FACILITIES 

V 

FOR      ENTERPRISE      AND     IMPROVEMENT,      AND      AN 

IMPARTIAL    DESCRIPTION  OF  THE    ADVANTAGES 

AND      DISADVANTAGES       ENJOYED      AND 

SUFFERED      1JY      IT'S      CITIZENS. 


THE  SUFFOLK  COUNTY  ALMS-HOUSE  AS  IT  IS. 

THIS    WORK    CONTAINS    THE    MOST    AUTHENTIC    AND    PLEASING 

HISTORY    OF   THIS    "MODEL"    INSTITUTION 

BEFORE    THE    PUBLIC. 


BY  L.  HE  EC  HER  HOMAN. 


'•  Every  town  and  city  in  the  United  States  should  induce  its  oest-infonno.d  writers  to  put 
its  annals  into  the  permanent  shape  of  a  hook,  that  its  e-irly  history  may  not  be  forgotten. 
Of  these  volumes  of  local  interest  and  value,  there  cannot  ho  too  many.''— .Vew  York  Herald. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1875, 

By  L.  BEECHER  HOMAN, 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


JOHN  POLHKMUS, 

Printer, 
11W  Nassau  St.,  New  York. 


EM 

URL1 


TO     MY     MOTHER, 


THE  DEAREST  FRIEND  I   HAVE  ON   EARTH, 


thitf  Worh, 


THE   CULMINATION   OF    HER   FOSTERING   INCENTIVE, 
AND    KIND,    CHEERING    WORDS. 


INTRODUCTION. 


"  To  know  your  country  to  its  farthest  veins, 
Find  out  its  heart ;  there  all  its  being  tends." 

I  deem  formality,  or  apology,  not  requisite  as  an  em- 
bellishment to  the  INTRODUCTION  of  a  work  that  must 
prove  of  intrinsic  value  to  all  to  take  an  interest  in  the 
local  affairs  of  their  country. 

To  become  acquainted  with  the  lives  of  men  who  have 
figured  in  conspicuous  capacities,  and  whose  names  are 
familiar  in  coalition  with  the  LOCAL  INSTITUTIONS,  UN- 
DERTAKINGS, EXCITEMENTS  and  AFFAIRS  of  their  times, 
is  an  almost  insatiable  desire  of  some ;  and  to  be  familiar 
with  the  RELIABLE  HISTORY  of  any  town  or  village,  and 
the  peculiarities  of  the  people,  is  an  acquaintance  as 
eagerly  sought  as  it  is  laudable  and  beneficial., 

To  gratify  that  commendable  propensity,  I  have  gath- 
ered and  carefully  compiled  the  RELIABLE  FACTS  con- 
tained in  this  MINIATURE  HISTORY,  and  look  to  the  hearty 
appreciation  of  my  reading  friends,  and  the  public,  as  a 
verification  of  its  GENUINE  WORTH. 


When  first  I  took  my  pen  to  write, 
Strange  bodings  whisper'd  "  FAIL  ! " 
And  grim  prognostics  did  unite 
To  make  my  faint  heart  quail. 
I  knew  that  rhetoric  were  vain 
In  lauding  OLD  YAPHANK, 
And  that  success  I  must  attain 
By  writing  bold  and  frank. 


viii  INTRODUCTION. 

1  know  the  place  of  which  I  write, 

And  know  the  people  better  ; 

Of  ev'ry  sentence — wrong  or  right — 

I  am  the  sole  begetter. 

I've  tried  the  simple  facts  to  write, 

Impartially  and  true  ; 

And  ev'ry  thing  that  tends  to  blight, 

])id  faithfully  eschew. 

But  if  mistakes  I  do  record — 
For  writers  sometimes  will — 
I  hope  my  FRIENDS  will  not  accord 
And  blame  an  erring  quill  ; 
For  I  am  sure  my  heart  was  right, 
And  that  no  bias  did 
Encourage  me  to  falsely  write 
What  JUSTICE  would  forbid. 

If  I  to  please  the  Tinker  write, 

And  not  the  Tailor,  too, 

I  may  be  term'd  a  flatt'ring  wight, 

As  "penning"  Devils  through. 

In  this  fast  age  of  Great  Events, 

The  wonders  we  expect ; 

And  one  will  be  "  My  Compliments  " 

From  those  I  least  respect — 

If  Fortune  ever  smiles  as  sweet 

Upon  my  luckless  head, 

Or  fills  my  heart  with  joy  replete 

O'er  things  I've  never  said. 

L.  B  H 


[LLUSTRATJONS. 

"  YOUKS,  TKULY,"         ...  .  *       FRONTISPIECE. 

WILLIAM  JONES  WEEKS,         .         .  *  .             PAGE     36 
EDWARD  WICKHAM  MILLS,           .         .         ...           '•         50 

SERENO  BURNELL  OVKBTON,             ,         .  .               '*         G6 

EDWARD  LIVINGSTON  GERARD,              .         .  .                     "         72 

EDWARD  HENRY  S.  HOLDEN,  M.  D.,  .                         J>2 

GEORGE  FRANKLIN  THOMPSON,            .         .  ...           "108 

JAMES  HUGGINS  WEEKS,  Es^.,         .         .  >  .               "lie 

SIDNEY  H.   HITCH,        .....  .           "       128 

REV.  INGRAM  N.  W.  IRVINE,            .  "       202 

THE  SUFFOLK  COUNTY  ALMS-HOUSE,          .  .         .           "•       206 


CONTENTS   OP   PART   FIRST. 


I. 
YAPHANK  AS  IT  is.  PAGE. 

A  General  Review,         .         .         .        *•     '  »        .         .         .         21 
The  Land  of  Local  Penny-a-liners,  and  Eden  of  (Gossip,  22 

As  it  is  and  was,     .........         24 

II. 

ITS  BUSINESS. 

III. 

YAPHANK.  AS  IT  is. — ABBREVIATED  SKETCHES   OF    PROMINENT 
YAPHANKERS. 

JOHN  PHILLIPS  MILLS. 

His  Style  of  Business,             .*        .         .         .         .  .         .,        30 

Personal,     .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .  .         .             31 

His  Charity, .         31 

IV. 
ROBERT  HAWKINS  GERARD. 

In  a  Manufacturing  Capacity,         ......         -V2. 

Personal,     ........'..  33 

His  Early  Life,       ....  .  . 

V. 
WILLIAM  ,1.  WEEKS. 

Personal,          .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         37 

His  Business,       ......  ...  39 

Public  and  Private,  .......         46 

VI. 
DANIEL  DOWNS  SWEEZY. 

Personal,          ..........         47 

His  Business,        ..........  48 

In  the  Family, I ...         48 


Xll  CONTENTS. 

I 

VII,  PA,,..:. 
EDWARD  WICKHAM  MILLS. 

His  Youthful  Enterprise,        ........  51 

His  Sensible  View  of  Business,            .....  52 

Popular  with  all,     .........  52 

Personal, .         .      •  .  53 

VIII. 

ALFRED  ACKEULY. 
His  Business,  ........  55 

In  the  Church,     .........  56 

IX. 
SAMUEL  F.  NORTON. 

As  ;i  Neighbor  and  Friend,     .......          57 

In  the  Church,  .          .          .          .          .  ,         .  57 

At  Home,         ..........          58 

X. 

JOHN  HAMMOND. 

Personal,          ..........         5!» 

At  Home,  in  the  Church,  and  Abroad,         ....  60 

XI. 

SAMUEL  LESTER  HOMAN. 
Personal,          .......         v  62 

XII. 

SERENO  BURNELL  OYERTON. 

Embarks  upon  a  Mercantile  Sea,     ...  .68 

Personal — The  True  Man, ^         69 

XIII. 
EDWARD  LIVINGSTON  GERARD. 

Personal, ;  .  v      .         .   73-74 

A  Review, *  75 

His  Accomplishments,    '.         .         .         .         .      '   .         .         . 

XIV. 
SAMUEL  SMITH. 

Public  and  Private,         . 77 

His  Insanity,        .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .     >    .  78 

His  Horrible  End, .78 


CONTENTS.  Xlii 

XV.  PAGE. 

EDWARD  HOMAN. 

As  a  Neighbor  and  Friend,     .......         80 

Public  and  Private, .  81 

XVI. 
Doc.  JAMES  I.  BAKER. 

Personal, 82 

His  Early  Life,  83 

Trials  and  Triumphs,       ........  83 

A  Neighbor,  Friend,  and  Farmer,        .....  84 

XVII. 
MORDECAI  HOMAN. 

Off  for  the  Mines,           86-87 

Adventures  in  California,             ......  87 

Success  and  Failure,        ........  87-88 

On  the  Sea  and  Land, .  88-89 

XVIII. 

EDWARD  HENRY  S.  HOLDEN,  M.  D. 
His  Moral  and  Scientific  Worth,     ......         93 

His  Recommendation,          .  .....       93-94 

A  Review,       ..........         94 

XIX. 
NATHANIEL  TUTHILL. 

Mr.  TuthilPs  Business,  98-101 

His  Benevolence,          ........  102 

Alexander  Smith,  102-3 

XX. 

AUGUSTUS  FLOYD. 

The  Descendant  of  a  Noble  Family,       .         .         .         .    "*.  104 

His  Personal  Appearance,  .         .         .         .         .         .  104 

His  Eccentric  and  Retired  Life,      ......  10,5 

A  Brief  Sketch, .  106 

XXI. 
GEORGE  FRANKLIN  THOMPSON. 

His  Qualifications  as  a  Business  Man,      .....        109 

A  Word  to  the  Gentle  Ones,  110 

His  Decided  Step,  .         .         .         .-        .         .         .         .110 


XIV  CONTEMN. 

XXII.  l'A<;K. 

ALFRED  REID,  Sit. 
An  Orphan's  Struggle,  .         .         .         .         .         .         .112 

Being  in  Business,        .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .  113 

A  Financial  Crusl i. 113 

Personal, 114 

XXIII. 
JAMES  HUGGINS  WEEKS. 

His  Early  History, 117 

As  a  Railroad  Man,     .         ..         .         .         .         .         .  118 

Personal,          .                            118 

XXIV. 
Hox.  WILLIAM  SIDNEY  SMITH. 

As  a  Military  Tactician,          .......  122 

From  the  Dra wing-room  Across  the  Wilderness.         .         .  123 

As  a  Public  Man,             ...                  .  123 

Personal,      ...:....                   .  124 

XXV. 
SIDNEY  H.  HITCH. 

Station  Island — William  Gurney,         -    .         .         .         .  120-30 

Fall  of  Savannah — AV»raham  Lincoln's  Death,             .         .  135 

Personal,          .  136 


CONTENTS   OF   PART    SECOND. 


I. 

YAPHANK  As  IT  WAS. — CONTAINING  BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES  OF 

THE    MEN    THAT    ONCE    WERE    PROMINENT. 

ESQUIRE  MORDECAI  ROMAN.  PAGE. 

His  Small  Beginning  and  Final  Achievements,      .         .         .-.      139 

THOMAS  HOMAN. 
His  Characteristics, .141 

II. 

DEA.  SIMMONS  LAWS.  143 

i 

RICHARD  HAWKINS.  144 

III. 
JONAH  HAWKINS. 

His  Earthly  Labors,       . 145 

Uncle  Jonah's  Anterior  Position,         .         .         .         .         .  146 

JONAS  BUCKINGHAM.  140 

IV. 

MORDECAI  OVERTON. 
A  Numerous  Family,      .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .147 

DANIEL  HAMMOND. 
The  Social  Custom  of  his  Day, 148 

V. 
ESQUIRE  WILLIAM  PHILLIPS. 

A  Review,       .         .         .         .         .         .  .         .         .       150 

The  Old  Squire's  Peculiarities, 150 

DANIEL  HOMAN.  151 

VI. 

ISAAC  MILLS. 
His  Death,       ...  .152 


XVI  CONTENTS. 

APPOLLAS  MILLS.  PAGE. 

His  Illustrious  Wife,       .....  154 

The  True  Man,     .         .         .         .  "     .         .       •'.'•*  ;  '        155 

VII. 
DANIEL  B.  SWEEZEY.  156 

VIII. 
ROBERT  H.  HAWKINS,  JUN. 

His  First  Struggle, '.       159 

A  Tribute  to  His  Memory, 159-61 


CONTENTS   OF   PART   THIRD. 

I. 

THE  FAILINGS  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 
Gossiping,        .         .         .  :  :         .         .         .         .         .       165 

Covetousness,      .         .      .  .         .         .     •  .•'.         .         .         .  167 

Rushing  Enterprise,     -   *   (     .         »-.-     .         .         .         .         .        167 

II. 

THE  BENEFICENCE  OF  YAPHANKERS.  169 

IIL 

MORAL  AND  IMMORAL  YAPHANK.  171 

IV. 

YAPHANK  AS  IT  WAS. 

What  comprised  Yaphank  in  1800,         .         .  .         .         .       174 

Yaphank  Mills,  and  their  History,       .         .  .    .,  .         ;   .        176 

The  Old  Grants,      .         .         .         .         .         .  ....         ..     177 

Why  Yaphank  was  not  a  City,            .         .  .                  '.           178 

V. 

OUR  DIMINUTIVE  YALE. 

The  Yaphank  District  School,  and  its  History,        .         .         .       180 
The  School-house — Past  and  Present,          .         .         ;         .  181 

VI. 

YAPHAXK  ("KMKIKKV   ASSOCIATION. 

.M; ;ike  my  Grave  in  the  Wild  wood,          .         .         .         .         .       184 
Why  are  our  Dead  Promiscuously  Buried  ?         ...         .  184 

An  Absolute  Requirement, 185 


CONTENTS.  XVI 1 

VII.  PAGE. 
TEMPERANCE  IN  YAPHAXK. 
The  Noble  Cause  and  its  Sustainers, 

A  Brief  Sketch, 

VIIL 

OUR  RELIGIOUS  HOMES. 

The  Centres  of  Christianity  in  Yaphank,        .         .  .191 

The  Yaphank  Presbyterian  Church,             .  .                    1 92 

The  Clergymen  of  the  Church, 1 93 

Francis  Drake, .  1 93 

{Charles  Sturges,      ...                   .  .193 

Jlark  Lockwood,          .....  .                     194 

ST.  ANDREW'S  CHURCH. 

The  Bishop's  Address,             ....  .196 

A  Contrast  To-day, 198 

IX. 

REV.  INGRAM  N.  W.  IRVINE. 

His  Early  Struggles  and  Collegiate  Achievements,  .         .       203 

Personal .         .           204 

X. 

SUFFOLK  COUNTY  ALMS-HOUSE. 

A  Model  Home  for  the  Poor, 207 

The  Farm, 208 

The  Home,      ....                  ....  .       209 

The  Main  Building,     .                                    .         .  209 

Division  of  Sexes,           .         .         .         .         .         .  .         .210 

The  Attending  Physician,            ....  210 

William  J.  Weeks,          ...                          .  212 

Edward  L.  Gerard,      .         .  212 

Doct.  E.  H.  S.  Holden,  .       213 


Part  First. 


CONTAINING 


A    GENERAL    DESCRIPTION    OF    YAPHANK 


AND    BIOGRAPHICAL    8KKTCHE8   OK 


ITS     PRO  M  IN  K  N  T     CITIZENS 


PART  FIRST. 


YAP HANK     AS    IT    IS. 

A  GENERAL  REVIEW — THE  LAND  OF  LOCAL  PENNY-A-LINERS, 

AND  EDEN  OF  GOSSIP — AS  IT  IS,  AND  WAS,  AND  WILL  BE! 

A  GENERAL  REVIEW. 

Much  has  been  said,  and  much  written,  about  the  listless 
mode  of  busines,  and  the  quiescent  enterprise  of  much- 
abused  Yaphankers. 

Among  the  many  facts  I  am  privileged  to  present  in  this 
little  effort,  an  endorsement  of  all  those  reports  may  be 
credited. 

When  I  began  writing  this  record  of  local  affairs,  I  was 
kindly  informed  by  literary  friends  and  advocates,  that  my 
future  "'inky  "  success  would  be  sadly  marred  if  I  matured 
these  my  fool-hardy  determinations  :  To  publish,  or  chron- 
icle the  most  interesting  events  that  ultimately  transpired 
since  1800  ;  and  to  publish  a  complete,  reliable,  and  read- 
able history  of  this  oasis  in  the  wilderness  of  "local  edit- 
ors "  and  "  county  paupers,"  since  that  "  dark  age."  ''  To 
err  is  human." 

If  I  too  highly  embellish  my  illustrations  regarding  one 
peculiar  class  and  their  innate  failings,  please  consider 
them  the  bloated  apparitions  of  a  clouded  imagination,  and 
not  the  base  intentions  of  a  prejudiced  mind.  As  I  have 
seen,  thus  have  I  written.  I  have  faithfully  sketched  from 
original  subjects,  and  conceitedly  assert  a  correct  transfor- 
mation. 


*22  YAPHANK    AS    IT    IS. 

Another  idea  prompted  me  to  complete  my  undertaking, 
although  more  dormant  and  not  so  philanthropical  as  my 
first.  It  was  the  natural  one  of  pecuniary  advancement- 
one  of  peculiar  interest  to  me. 

Some,  also,  declare  that  I  have  built  upon  a  diminutive 
foundation,  and  failure  is  inevitable.  Well,  failure,  and 
not  success,  is  the  general  law  of  life  ;  and  if  I  gain  the 
former  I  must  content  myself  with  the  majority,  if  I  accom- 
plish the  latter  I  certainly  shall  rejoice  with  the  minority. 

Yaphank  is  the  Indian  name  of  a  creek  and  neck  of  land 
on  the  south  side  of  the  town,  at  South  Haven  ;  and  the 
line  running  north  from  the  head  of  Yaphank  Creek  is 
called  Yaphank  Line.  Yaphank  Neck  is  between  that  line 
and  the  Connecticut  River,  and  consequently  does  not  in- 
clude Yaphank  Station  ;  but  the  name  properly  belongs  to 
the  Neck  west  of  Carman's  Mills. 

The  name  Yaphank  was  suggested  by  William  J.  Weeks, 
about  the  year  1845,  when  application  was  made  to  the 
P.  O.  Department  to  establish  a  post-office  in  this  place  ; 
the  former  name,  Millville,  being  objectionable  for  that 
purpose,  as  there  were  already  thirteen  of  that  name  in  the 
.United  States,  and  one  being  in  the  State  of  New  York. 
The  name  Yaphank  was  familiar  here,  as  applied  to  a 
boundary  line  passing  through  the  eastern  part  of  the 
village.  The  appellation  is  unique  for  the  purpose,  for  the 
place,  for  the  people. 

The  district  boundaries  are  more  regular  than  any  in  the 
town — being  nearly  square — and  are  two  miles  and  five- 
eighths  from  the  north  to  the  south  boundary,  and  two  and 
three-eighths  from  east  to  west.  The  district  contains  6$ 
square  miles,  one-quarter  of  which  is  under  excellent  culti- 
vation. 

PENNY-A-LINERS    AND    GOSSIPPKRS. 

Arm-in-arm  we  meet  this  debris  of  society.  One  acts,  and 
the  other  reports.  As  the  Long  Island  Leader  recently  re- 
ported, Yaphank  is  truly  made  unenviably  famous  by  its 


YAPHANK    AS    IT    IS.  23 

"army  of  local  reporters."  All  events,  from  a  new  door- 
knob to  a  clam-bake,  are  duly  reported  to  our  country 
periodicals  by  these  "  mashers"  of  the  quill. 

No  one  escapes.  People  fear  to  deviate  from  the  beaten 
routine,  for  fear  their  names  will  "  get  in  the  papers"  un- 
der some  horrible  heading.  Thus  many  are  compelled  to 
curb  their  chafing  enterprise,  at  the  risk  of  serious  individ- 
ual damage — for  instance,  an  explosion  ;  and  poor,  fretting 
Yaphank  must  lie  dormant  because  we  support  a  standing 
army  of  -  -  !  Why,  one  of  our  most  modest  male  inhab- 
itants purchased  an  elegant  pair  of  pants,  recently,  and  he 
was  struggling  to  "try  them  on,"  to  ascertain  the  "fit," 
when  some  unfortunate  mishap  caused  a  fearful  rent  in  the — 
the  — ,  and  the  poor  fellow  dared  not  patch  them  for  fear  it 
would  get  in  "  the  papers—  '  the  patch  I  refer  to. 

The  great  bustling  world  or  the  busy  little  city  would 
not  halt  to  criticise  a  man's  misfortune  or  a  woman's 
success. 

Business  directs  their  attention  towards  objects  more 
beneficial  to  mankind. 

Life  is  more  informal  in  the  village. 

There  every  man  knows,  or  wishes  to  know,  every  man's 
business. 

A  new  picket- fence,  a  repaired  chimney,  Mr.  So-and-So's 
"  beautiful  addition  to  his  house,"  combine  to  form  the 
general  digest  of  weekly  instalments  to  our  country  papers, 
as  the  flavored  literature  of  the  village. 

It  has  always  been  questionable  with  me  whether  or  not 
the  reading  public  cares  if  an  unknown  rustic  has  "painted 
his  fence,"  or  "is  going  to  paint  his  cow-shed,"  and 
whether  such  information  will  prove  interesting.  It  is 
generally  believed  that  country  editors  publish  such  chaff 
from  scarcity  of  interesting  news. 

Is  there  not  a  pleasing  equivalent  to  this  local  swash  \ 
Yes.  Encourage  the  compilation  of  home  facts  possessing 
historical  interest,  and  welcome  only  such  to  the  centre 


24  YAPHANK    AS    IT   18. 

table.     If  it  be  not  as  "fresh,'?  the  "hash"  will  certainly 
be  more  palatable  for  being  condensed. 

FIGURES    AND  FACTS. 

To  descend  from  the  realms  of  poesy  into  the  world  of 
tact,  Yaphank  is  a  scattered  settlement,  with  clusters  of 
pretty  cottages  at  almost  regular  intervals. 

It.  has  a  tine  avenue,  which  connects  it  with  the  villages  of 
the  east  and  south  side. 

The  population,  within  the  Post-office  district,  numbers 
about  eight  hundred  souls. 

While  such  is  its  condition  physically,  Nature's  fair 
handiwork  has  been  sadly  marred  by  individual  neglect  and 
quiescence. 

The  record  of  Yaphank  is  a  record  of  one-sided  prosper- 
ity and  aggrandisement. 

The  prominent  citizens  are  "  characters''  in  the  drama  of 
our  village  life,  which  I  have  endeavored  to  portray  in 
this  book. 


II. 

ITS  BUSINESS. 

The  occupation  of  the  people  is  as  varied  as  their  tastes 
and  characters.  The  primitive  occupation  was  "tilling  the 
soil;"  but  simultaneous  with  every  limited  "rush"  of 
emigration,  other  original  and  necessary  branches  of  trade 
followed.  Now,  in  consummation,  we  present  the  following 
"remarkable"  directory  of  business  : 

1  Dry- goods  and  Hardware     2  Medical  Offices. 

Store,  including  the  Post-  1  Shoe  Shop, 

office.  1  Lumber  Yard. 

2  Grist  Mills.  2  Wheelwright  Shops. 
2  Lumber  Mills.  T  Meat  Market. 

2  Blacksmith  Shops.  1  Veterinary  Establishment. 

1  Printing  Office.  1  Dressmaking      Establish - 
1  Upholstering  Shop.  ment. 

1  Express  and  Stage  Line. 

A  few  years  ago  the  people  supported  a  factory,  two 
stores,  and  three  churches.  The  factory  has  long  been 
closed,  one  store  now  forms  the  mercantile  centre,  and  the 
Christian  element  support  but  two  churches.  The  Baptist 
is  immersed. 

Why  should  not  Yaphank  be  a  city '(  It  certainly  has 
advantages  that  no  other  village  in  Brookhaven  Town  en- 
joys. Its  railway  communications  are  excellent.  Its  water 
facilities  are  unquestionably  good  for  manufacturing  pur- 
poses, and  could  easily,  and  without  much  artificial  labor,  or 
an  enormous  outlay,  be  made  to  supply  sufficient  power  for 
half  a  dozen  factories  of  different  kinds,  and  not  hinder  the 
operations  of  the  other  mills  in  the  least.  Scientific  men 


26  YAPHANK    AS    IT   IS. 

assure  me,  and  others  of  much  experience  in  such  matters 
declare,  that  such  could  be  easily,  cheaply,  and  successfully 
done  ;  and  that  it  would  certainly  prove  remunerative. 
Labor  is  cheap  here;  living  is  cheap;  and  why  can't  as 
good  a  market  be  obtained  for  articles  that  may  be  manu- 
factured in  Yaphank  as  are  supplied  by  a  Lowell  or  a  Lynn  ( 

But  no  one  can  awaken  Yaphankers  or  induce  them  into 
a  new  enterprise,  however  promising  the  inducements  !  They 
are  aware  that  mill-owners  make  money  here,  and  are  the 
only  class  of  men  in  Yaphank,  with  a  few  exceptions,  who 
do.  They  know  that  labor  is  cheap,  that  transportation  can 
be  made  cheap,  and  that  all  the  facilities  are  convenient. 
They  also  know  that  they  can  invest  in  banking,  railway 
and  other  enterprises  elsewhere,  and  draw  their  semi-annual 
interest  without  the  exertion  an  enterprise  in  Yaphank 
would  require.  But  I  wonder  if  they  have  lost  money 
enough  in  foreign  enterprises  to  convince  them  that  it  is  riot 
all  success  out  of  Yaphank  ?  The  city  banks  fail,  the  rail- 
roads pass  into  the  hands  of  Receivers,  curb-stone  dabblers 
grow  fat  over  their  false  ideas  of  business  economy,  and 
hundreds  of  dollars  are  lost  here  and  thousands  there ;  still 
our  moneyed  men  will  gather  and  invest  their  all  in  city  in- 
stitutions, double  themselves  up  into  a  religious,  philan- 
thropical  ball,  wonder  why  Yaphank  is  so  'dormant"  and 
•'  far  behind  the  times,"  and  scorn  upon  the  shadow  of  any 
home  undertaking,  and  discourage  and  abuse  the  unfor- 
tunate wretch  that  may  mention  one.  Such  is  Yaphank  to- 
day ! 

We  never  expect  Yaphank  to  make  a  movement !  But 
why  discourage  strangers  who  see  our  great  advantages 
and  wish  to  improve  them  ?  Why  entertain  the  conviction 
that  because  such  a  movement  was  never  successfully  es- 
tablished that  it  never  will  be  f  For,  friends,  I  dream  my- 
self, at  no  very  distant  day,  stopping  wondering  urchins 
upon  the  paved  thoroughfares  of  Yaphank,  and  telling  them 
of  the  days  when  ,1.  P.  Mills'  store  was  the  great  commer- 
cial attraction,  and  John  Hammond's  shoe-shop,  the  mighty 
repository  of  boot-jacks  and  local  news. 


YAPHANK    AS    IT   IS.  27 

Instead  of  two  hundred  d  welling- hduses  and  eight  hun- 
dred people  to  occupy  them,  we  want  one  thousand  neat, 
comfortable  cottages,  and  five  thousand  people.  We  want 
ten  times  the  number  of  business  institutions,  and  smart, 
energetic  people  to  support  them. 

We  needn't  begin  building  churches  for  many  years  yet ! 
Give  one  of  the  two  already  built  three  or  four  good  resur- 
rections, a  big  poke  with  the  stick  of  enterprise,  a  little 
doctoring  with  generous  medicine,  and  the  "bread  of  life" 
will  be  broken  by  many  more  members,  and  by  a  happier 
and  more  Christian  people. 

Give  the  other  a  little  support,  cheering  words,  and  shove 
it  into  the  stream — it  will  float ! 

You  men  who  own  land,  adaptable  for  building  lots,  offer 
it  for  sale  at  reasonable  prices — prices  within  the  means  of 
the  laboring  classes  who  wish  to  settle  here.  Because 
neighbor  A  lives  only  for  himself  and  family,  don't  you 
imitate  his  actions.  Open  your  heart  and  ears  a  little  to 
the  benefit  of  others.  You  will  live  happier,  die"happier, 
and  your  many  friends  will  keep  the  laurels  of  your  useful 
life  ever  blooming  in  their  memories. 

Draw  ten  per  cent,  of  the  money  invested  elsewhere, 
expend  it  in  supporting  and  establishing  home  institutions 
and  enterprises,  give  a  cheering  word  now  and  then  to 
struggling  neighbors,  grant  strangers  a  cordial  welcome, 
smilingly  tell  them  of  the  great  advantages  long  lain  unap- 
preciated and  unappropriated,  and  explain  and  emphasize 
the  baseness  and  disloyalty  of  those  who  consider  it  a  duty 
to  "run  down"  and  falsely  represent  their  own  villages, 
towns  or  cities.  Do  these  things — do  them  well  and  pa- 
tiently— and  the  village  will  soon  make  the  town,  and  the 
town  the  busy  little  city. 

Don't  listen  to  the  prejudiced,  out-of-date  old  stumbling- 
stones  who  will  ever  keep  up  a  wicked  sneering,  and  a 
sombrous  "you  can't  doit!"  They  are  the  rocks  in  the 
channel  to  enterprise  ;  a  gopd  chart  and  steady  nerves  will 


28  YAPHANK    AS   IT  18. 

safely  pass  them  ;  and  they  never  amount  to  much,  in  the 
channel  or  out ! 

The  specific  and  infallible  remedy  for  the  immediate 
relief  of  a  sickly  village  is  to  talk  it  up  !  cheer  it  up  !  and 
it  will  soon  build  itself  up  !  Keep  talking,  don't  lay  on  the 
oars,  and  it  will  stay  up  ! 

MY   STARTLING  REVERIE. 

I. 

Ah,  "  OLD  YAPHANK  !"  land  of  my  birth, 

My  young  heart  yearns  for  thee  ! 
Few  in  the  great  world  know  thy  worth, 

And  what  thou  yet  wilt  be  ; 
When  we  thy  rustic  life  transform — 

Thy  car  of  progress  move, 
Thy  money 'd  men  will  then  reform, 

And  smilingly  approve. 

n. 

Then  haste  the  days — the  palmy  days — 

And  welcome  noise  and  din, 
When  enterprise  shall  trill  her  lays — 

When  good  times  shall  begin. 
Then,  cheer  up,  friends  ;  we  must  allow 

We'll  see  what  we  will  see, 
.And  greet  the  change  from  what  is  now, 

And  what  it  yet  will  be  ! 

m. 

Though  in  the  coldness  now  we  wade 

That  chills  our  social  love, 
'Twill  change  when  our  rich  men  have  laid 

Their  treasures  up  above ; 
When  checks  and  bank-books  are  pass'd  in, 

And  balanced  every  one, 
We'll  greet  the  welcome  noise  and  din — 

The  change  we  knew  would  come  ! 


YAPHANK    AS   IT   IS.  29 

IV. 

But  oh !  how  sweet  will  be  the  thought — 

When  cold  blows  Winter's  storm — 
To  know  their  hoarded  gold  has  bought 

Them  quarters  nice  and  warm  ! 
Methinks  up*  there  they  all  will  hie 

To  found  a  local  bank  ; 
Supported,  run  and  charter'd  by 

The  RICH  MEN  OF  YAPHANK  ! 

V. 

There  are  exceptions  to  the  rules — 

God  bless  the  Fates  for  it ! 
And  we  have  men — not  Mammon's  tools — 

True  men,  we  must  admit ! 
But  those  who  do  the  most  in  prayer, 

Have  records  black  or  blank  : 
And  the  Dives  here,  I  do  declare, 

Are  the  RICH  MEN  OF  YAPHANK  ! 


*Down. 


III. 

I 

YAPHANK  AS  IT  IS. 
ABBREVIATED   SKETCHES   OF   PROMINENT    YAPHANKERS. 

JOHN  PHILLIPS  MILLS. 

HIS   STYLE   OF  BUSINESS — PERSONAL — HIS   CHARITY. 

Mr.  Mills  is  a  shrewd,  successful  business  man  ;  a  model 
husband  and  father.  He  clings  with  unwavering  tenacity 
to  the  interests  of  his  advocates  and  friends  ;  but  is  austere 
and  unrelenting  toward  the  unfortunates  who  may  fail  in 
acquiescing  with  his  views  and  ideas.  As  a  politician — as 
a  financier — he  has  been  remarkably  successful. 

His  anterior  experience  and  education  have  proved  a  pre- 
cise counsellor  in  all  his  speculations,  and  have  brought 
him  successfully  out  of  all  his  business  labyrinths  and  un- 
dertakings. 

HIS    STYLE    OF    BUSINESS. 

He  is  very  exact  in  keeping  his  contracts  ;  is  generally 
prompt  in  his  engagements,  and  requires  the  same  punctu- 
ality of  others.  With  his  employees  he  is  sharp  and  pre- 
cise, and  is  very  "driving"  in  his  mode  of  business.  He 
is  generally  regarded  as  "  stern  "  within  his  business  circle. 
If  his  disposition  drew  him  thither,  he  would  make  a 
"noise"  in  Wall  street,  at  the  "Stock  Board,"  or  as  a 
railroad  operator.  He  would  be  successful  as  a  banker, 
broker,  or  at  any  occupation  he  might  choose.  He  pos- 
sesses shrewdness,  tact,  energy  and  brains.  Mr.  Mills' 
prominent  characteristic  tendency  is  his  innate  determina- 
tion to  serve  those  to  whom  he  is  attached,  at  any  inconve- 
nience or  cost. 


YAPHA.NK    AS   IT   18.  31 

i 

PERSONAL. 

In  society  he  is  affable,  complaisant  and  interesting  ;  an 
excellent  conversationist ;  ever  ready  with  appropriate  an- 
ecdotes, and  brief,  ludicrous  squibs. 

He  is  about  fifty-five  years  af  age  ;  and  the  cares  and 
changes  of  a  business  life  have  dealt  gently  with  him.  He 
appears  not  over  forty  ;  has  dark  hair  and  beard,  a  well- 
knit  and  developed  physique. 

.      HIS    CHABITY. 

John  Phillips  Mills  might  tread  as  firmly  on  'Change 
as  a  Gould  or  Vanderbilt,  and  possess  a  limited  portion  of 
their  enterprising  propensities  ;  but  he  certainly  possesses 
none  of  the  charitable  proclivities  that  immortalized  the 
names  of  Peabody  and  Drew. 

Mr.  Mills  is  not  benevolently  inclined — at  least  not 
in  Yaphank.  His  philanthropical  prodigalities  are  not 
extraordinary — rather  miniature ! 

I  have  yet  to  learn  that  he  ever  claimed  much  generous 
distinction,  and  as  he  does  not  appropriate  that  which  is 
not  virtually  his,  we  may  credit  it  as  a  redeeming  feature, 
compared  with  the  "features"  of  most  public  paragons. 

In  early  life  he  ''tilled  the  soil,"  laboring  upon  his 
father's  farm  during  the  Summer  months,  and  teaching  the 
district  ideas  how  to  shoot,  in  Winter. 

He  has  bowed  before  Hymen's  shrine  three  successive 
times,  and  wept  over  the  graves  of  two  wives.  He  has  but 
one  heir  to  inherit  the  fruits  of  his  invincible  will  and  en- 
terprise. He  is  reputed  to  be  worth  from  one  hundred  to 
three  hundred  thousand. 


rv. 

ROBERT  HAWKINS  GERARD. 

IN   A    MANUFACTURING    CAPACITY — PERSONAL — HIS    EARLY 

LIFE. 

There  will  always  be  a  niche  in  the  history  of  Yaphank's 
benevolent,  Christian  men,  for  Hawkins  Gerard.  It  may 
truly  be  said  of  him  that  he  has  taught  many  to  do  good, 
but  not  one  to  sin.  Ever  the  same  unostentatious,  energetic 
man,  he  has  pushed  steadily  forward,  and  rolled  up  an 
ample  fortune— a  deserved  recompense  for  perseverance 
and  exclusive  attention  to  business.  His  life  has  been  ex- 
emplary. A  fitting  guiding  star  for  all  young  men  to  keep 
in  view. 

IN    A   MANUFACTURING   CAPACITY. 

Coalesced  in  partnership  with  William  Sidney  Smith, 
Mr.  Gerard  established  a  woolen  factory  in  combination 
with  his  milling  business.  A  crisis  in  financial  circles,  and 
the  abdication  of  Robert  Russell,  the  manager,  caused  a 
suspension. 

Prelusory  movements  have  since  originated  to  remodel  it 
into  a  cotton  factory,  and  why  the  project  never  matured 
the  originators  solely  know. 

It  would,  certainly,  embellish  the  physical  condition  of 
the  village,  benefit  its  inhabitants,  and  prove  a  remunera- 
tion worthy  its  establishment. 

In  the  rooms,  whose  walls  should  ring  with  the  enlivening 
din  of  trade,  and  a  cheerful  array  of  contented  laborers  be 
seen,  are  piled  hundreds  of  feet  of  lumber,  and  grim  silence 
reigns  supreme  within  its  empty  corridors. 


YAPHANK   A8   IT   IS.  33 

In  addition  to  his  other  business,  Mr.  Gerard  has  a  large 
lumber  yard.  It  was  a  necessity  long  unsupplied  until  he 
founded  the  indispensable  convenience. 

HIS   EABLY   LIFE. 

Hawkins  Gerard  was  born  in  Fire  Place,  Brookhaven. 
He  wooed  and  won  the  hand  of  Miss  Fanny  Hawkins,  a 
daughter  of  a  fellow-townsman,  Rev.  Nathaniel  Hawkins. 
It  is  certain  he  has  never  had  cause  to  regret  the  choice  of 
his  life's  companion. 

While  yet  immature  in  years  he  came  to  live  with  his 
uncle,  Robert  Hawkins,  in  Yaphank,  and  in  the  old  red 
mill — a  miniature  structure — he  mastered  the  trade  that 
has  since  proved  a  fortune. 

The  original  mill  possessed  less  than  one-third  capacity 
of  the  present,  and  soon  after  Mr.  Gerard  became  possessor 
it  was  torn  down,  and  a  much  larger  one  built  upon  the  old 
site. 

PERSONAL. 

Mr.  Gerard  is  warm-hearted,  genial,  and  noble-spirited. 
He  is  popular  with  our  citizens  generally  ;  with  all  classes , 
and  all  sects.  Sociable  in  his  friendship,  he  is  regarded  as 
a  fast  and  true  friend. 

In  years,  he  has  reached  the  apex  of  man's  allotted  so- 
journ on  earth  ;  and  the  iron  hand  of  time  is  falling  with 
withering  effect  as  he  advances  in  years. 

In  person,  he  is  thick-set  and  stocky.  In  his  years  of 
prime  he  was  powerful,  with  great  enduring  powers.  He 
has  a  pleasant  phiz.  A  perfect  model  of  the  "  Old  School.*' 

Ever  considerate  in  his  public  and  private  life,  he  has 
gathered  never-fading  laurels  upon  the  mantle  of  a  well- 
spent  career. 


V. 
WILLIAM  JONES  WEEKS. 

ANECDOTE  OF  THE  OLD  SCHOOL-HOUSE — ORTHOGRAPHY — 
ENGLISH  GRAMMAR — WALK  TO  BOSTON — FIRST  BOAT — 
NATURAL  HISTORY — SUPERINTENDENT  OF  COMMON 
SCHOOLS — MANAGEMENT  OF  BEES — HEXAGONAL  CELLS- 
DIVISION  LINE — GREAT  FIRE— CRANBERRY  CULTURE — 
TREASURER — COUNTY  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  THE  POOR — 
HIS  TEMPERANCE  PRINCIPLES — A  SUBSTITUTE  FOR  TO- 
BACCO— PERSONAL. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  born  in  the  village  of 
Oyster  Bay,  in  the  year  1821,  and  came,  with  his  parents, 
in  the  Spring  of  1828,  to  reside  in  Yaphank.  From  that 
date  to  the  year  1833  he  had  such  opportunities  for  educa- 
tion as  the  neighborhood  afforded  ;  which  were  chiefly  at 
the  district  school- house. 

The  course  of  studies  there  pursued  was  not  very  exten- 
sive, nor  were  the  text-books  at  that  day  of  the  most  pleas- 
ing and  instructive  kind.  He  relates  the  following 

ANECDOTE   OF   THE  OLD   SCHOOL-HOUSE! 

"  Philosophy  was  not  a  part  of  the  course  of  study,  yet  an 
amusing  incident  occurred  one  Winter  morning,  which  gave 
the  pupils  an  inkling  of  that  science. 

The  night  previous  had  been  sufficiently  cold  to  freeze  the 
ink  in  various  ink-stands  ;  in  one,  especially,  made  of  lead, 
it  was  about  solid,  and  the  wooden  stopple  was  frozen 
fast. 


38  YAPHANK    AS   IT   IS. 

The  owner  placed  it  on  the  hearth,  in  front  of  the  blazing 
fire,  to  thaw,  and  occasionally  turned  it,  in  order  that  every 
side  might  feel  the  heat,  little  dreaming  that  he  was  thereby 
evoking  the  latent  power  of  steam  ;  when  suddenly,  with 
a  loud  , report,  out  flew  the  stopple,  accompanied  by  nearly 
the  entire  fluid  contents,  which  projected  upward  in  a  di- 
verging column,  and  put  in  deep  mourning  a  considerable 
space  of  the  ceiling  overhead.  This  lesson  was  neither  re- 
peated nor  forgotten/' 

The  district  school — notwithstanding  its  disadvantages 
and  discomforts — was  beneficial ;  he  thinks  that  he  there 
acquired  an  excellent  knowledge  of 

ORTHOGRAPHY. 

One  of  the  teachers,  to  excite  the  emulation  of  the  spell- 
ing-class, adopted  the  plan  of  giving,  daily,  to  the  one 
who  stood  at  the  he'ad  of  the  class,  a  written  certificate,  tes- 
tifying to  that  fact.  These  varied  slightly  in  form,  as  his 
fancy  dictated. 

Young  Weeks  was  the  recipient  of  many  of  these  honors, 
a  package  of  which  he  still  retains.  One  of  them  reads  as 
follows  : 

"TAKE  NOTICE  ! 

William  J.  Weeks  is  at  the  head  of  his  class ;  he  has 
not  missed  a  word  for  a  considerable  length  of  time ;  he 
therefore  stands  this  day  at  the  head  of  his  class. 

Brookhaven,  Jan.  7th,  1832. 

J.  OSBORN,  Teacher.'' 

On  one  occasion  the  teacher  was  seized  with  a  poetic 
frenzy,  and  indited  the  following: 

"  William  J.  Weeks,  his  mind  has  fixt 
For  the  reception  of  orthography  ; 
He  also  good  improvement  makes 
In  arithmetic-  and  geography." 


YAPHANK   AS   IT  IS.  39 

In  the  Spring  of  1833,  when  but  thirteen  years  old,  he 
was  sent  to  Southampton  to  attend  the  academy.  Here  he 
was  first  introduced  to  the  study  of 

ENGLISH   GRAMMAR. 

This  subject  was  both  novel  and  abstruse  to  him.  He 
had  been  pursuing  it  a  few  weeks,  when  one  day  lie  went 

with  the  class  to  recite  to  Peter  H ,  the  assistant  teacher, 

who  presided  in  the  upper  room  of  the  academy,  and 
in  his  turn,  was  directed  to  parse  a  word.  The  word  and 
the  sentence  are  totally  lost  in  oblivion ;  but  he  is  under 
the  impression  that  he  must  have  handled  the  parts  of 
speech  in  a  most  extraordinary  manner,  for  he  had  no 
sooner  completed  his — supposed — task,  than  Peter,  who 
sat  with  his  chair  tilted  back,  and  his  heels  balanced  upon 
the  table,  turned  upon  him  a  severe  look,  and  said :  "Sir,  did 
you  mean  to  insult  me  ?"  No  explanation  was  vouchsafed; 
and  while  Peter's  instruction  in  grammar  made  no  impres- 
sion, that  remark  immortalized  him. 

After  spending  a  year  at  Southampton,  lie  pursued  his 
studies  for  the  next  four  years,  successively,  at  the  acade- 
mies of  Bellport  and  Miller's  Place.  These  institutions 
were  then  in  the  zenith  of  their  prosperity. 

When  he  was  about  seventeen  years  of  age,  he  remained 
at  home  for  a  year  and  a  half,  engaged  in  the  labors  of  the 
farm  and  garden.  He  was  at  this  time  a 


PRACTICAL    SURVEYOR 


and  was  occasionally  employed  in  running  lines  and  meas- 
uring land. 

Having  decided  to  enter  college,  he  returned  to  Miller's 
Place  in  1839-40,  to  complete  his  preparation.  He  passed 
his  examination,  and  entered  the  Freshman  class  of  Yule 
College,  in  1840.  He  completed  the  four  years'  course,  and 
was  graduated  with  honor,  in  1844. 

During  his  college  course,  believing  that  a  sound  mind 
could  best  be  maintained  by  a  sound  body,  he  was  careful, 


40  YAPIIANK    AS   IT   18. 

by  daily  exercise,  to  retain  his  physical  health.  This  was 
easy,  from  his  naturally  active  disposition.  At  that  time 
the  college  was  destitute  of  a  gymnasium,  and  the  students 
were  left  to  provide  for  themselves  the  means  of  exercise. 
These  were  chieliy  foot-ball,  wicket  and  walking  ;  in  all  of 
which  he  took  an  active  part.  In  January,  1842,  was  the 
ordinary  Winter  vacation  of  two  weeks.  Instead  of  a  visit 
home,  he  determined  to 

WALK   TO   BOSTON. 

The  distance  from  New  Haven  was  more  than  140  miles. 
There  was  a  considerable  depth  of  snow.  He  set  out  with 
a  single  companion.  Before  reaching  Hartford,  his  com- 
panion became  discouraged,  and  abandoned  the  undertak- 
ing. Thence  he  continued  the  journey  alone.  After  several 
days  of  steady  walking,  he  reached  his  destination  ;  saw 
Boston,  Charlestown,  Bunker  Hill  Monument,  &c.  He  re- 
turned by  the  way  of  Providence,  accomplishing,  on  the 
last  day's  walk,  thirty-five  miles,  in  nine  hours  including 
a  halt  of  twenty  minutes.  He  was  somewhat  impeded  by 
his  valise,  and  its  contents  of  twelve  pounds. 

In  the  Spring  of  1843,  he  conceived  the  idea  of  introduc- 
ing the  exercise  of  rowing  among  the  students.  He,  there- 
fore, purchased  in  New  York  a  Whitehall  boat,  nineteen 
feet  long,  and  took  it  with  him  on  his  return  to  New  Haven. 
He  induced  six  of  his  class-mates  to  join  him  in  forming  a 
boat  club. 

This  was  the 

FIRST   BOAT 

owned  by  students  of  Yale  College,  and  was  the  origin  of 
the  Yale  Navy. 

The  boat  was  named  the  "Pioneer,''  and  its  crew  the 
"  Pioneers.'1 

Many  short  and  pleasant  excursions  were  made  in  it  about 
the  harbor  and  adjacent  waters.  One  morning,  in  the  Sum- 
mer of  1844,  he,  with  four  of  the  crew,  rowed  across  the 


YAPHANK   A8   IT   IS.  41 

Sound  to  Long  Island,  and  returned  in  the  same  way,  the 
next  morning. 

At  this  time,  after  thirty-one  years  of  the  'changes  and 
chances  of  human  life,  the  entire  seven  forming  the  crew  of 
"Pioneers,"  are  still  living.  Mr.  Weeks  early  imbibed  a 
taste  for 

NATURAL   HISTORY, 

and  was  ever  interested  in  reading  anything  relating  to  the 
subject  of  animated  nature.  Subsequently,  having  received 
some  instruction  in  taxidermy — the  art  of  preserving  the 
skins  of  birds,  animals,  &c. — he  became  an  adept  in  that  art, 
and  spent  a  portion  of  his  college  vacations  in  collecting  and 
preparing  birds  and  other  objects — forming  a  small  museum. 
He  has  since  secured  some  fine  specimens  of  the  native  wild 
animals  of  Suffolk  County  for  the  Long  Island  Historical 
Society. 

Mr.  Weeks  is  not  a  politician  nor  office-seeker.  He  has 
too  much  independence  to  intrigue  for  office.  If  he  has 
held  any  public  office,  it  has  been  the  voluntary  tribute  of 
others.  At  the  annual  town  meeting  of  his  town — Brook- 
haven — in  1847,  he  was  elected 

SUPERINTENDENT   OF   COMMON   SCHOOLS. 

The  town  is  a  large  one,  and  embraced  about  forty  dis- 
tricts and  school-houses.  He  discharged  the  duties  with 
ability  and  fidelity  ;  was  re-elected  the  following  year,  but 
declined  serving,  in  order  to  attend  to  his  private  affairs. 

In  1 850,  we  find  him  engaged  in  the 

MANAGEMENT   OF   BEES. 

He  embarked  in  this  with  his  usual  ardor  and  energy. 
Every  treatise  upon  this  subject  he  procured  and  perused. 
He  thus  combined  the  knowledge  and  practice  of  other 
apiarians  with  his  own  observation  and  experience. 

He  has  facilities  for  observing  the  bees  in  their  varied  op- 
erations. 


42  YAPHANK    AS   IT   18. 

In  1853,  he  discovered  by  what  means  the  honey  bee  is 
enabled  to  construct  its 

HEXAGONAL  CELLS, 

of  a  uniform  size  and  shape. 

This  mystery  had  elicited  the  admiration,  excited  the 
wonder  and  curiosity,  baffled  the  researches  of  the  most 
astute  philosophers  and  mathematicians,  from  the  time  of 
Aristotle,  more  than  two  hundred  years. 

His  elucidation  of  this  was  published  in  the  Scientific 
American,  of  May,  1860,  and  some  years  after,  in  the  Bee 
Keepers'  Journal. 

In  1853,  he  was  elected  a  trustee  of  the  School  District 
here.  In  this  position  he  had  an  opportunity  to  learn  the 
conditions  and  needs  of  his  district. 

The  school-house  had  been  erected  many  years  previ- 
ously, by  certain  proprietors ;  some  of  whom  still  claimed 
their  individual  shares.  The  site  had  been  granted  to  them 
solely  for  the  purpose  of  a  school -house,  and  was  to  revert 
to  the  grantor  in  case  the  house  became  "extinct." 

It  was  erected  upon  the  site  of  the  highway,  and  had  no, 
tree  nor  convenience  about  it.  The  district  owned  neither 
the  house  nor  the  site,  nor  were  the  bounds  defined.  In 
this  anomalous  position,  in  February,  1854,  he  wrote  to 
the  State  Superintendent  for  instructions  as  to  the  powers 
of  the  residents.  The  following  extract  describes  somewhat 
the  condition  of  the  house  : 

"  Of  course,  sir,  after  the  lapse  of  nearly  forty-three  years, 
exposed  to  the  peltings  of  the  pitiless  storm,  the  fervid  rays 
of  the  noonday  sun,  and  the  multifarious  hack  of  little  boys' 
jackknives,  the  marks  of  age — venerable,  though  not  rev- 
ered— are  manifest  upon  its  shattered  frame.  And  though 
not  "extinct,"  the  hour  of  its  dissolution  is  evidently  not 
far  distant.  The  crisis  has  come,  and  the  physicians — with 
low  tones  and  solemn  looks— are  consulting  together." 

It  was  proposed  to  repair  the  old  house.  A  majority  of 
the  voters  decided  to  purchase  a  site  and  erect  a  new  one. 


YAPHANK    AS   IT   IS.  43 

There  was  strong  opposition  to  this  by  some  of  the  tax -pay- 
ers, which  neither  argument  nor  persuasion  could  overcome. 
Opposition  to  building  school-houses  is  not  an  unusual 
Circumstance  in  the  rural  districts. 

Mr.  Weeks  saw  that  the  opportunity  to  secure  a  site  of  an 
acre,  in  the  central  part  of  the  village,  if  then  neglected, 
might  never  recur.  Nothing  remained  but  for  the  inhabi- 
tants to  exercise  their  legal  powers. 

After  two  years,  the  bounds  were  duly  defined  and  es- 
tablished. The  site  was  purchased,  and  the  house  erected. 
During  this  period  few  are  aware  of  his  personal  labor,  and 
the  extent  of  his  writing. 

He  toiled  for  the  public  good  !  His  efforts  may  have  been 
misconstrued,  but  he  never  cherished  any  animosity  toward 
those  who  caused  him  so  much  unnecessary  trouble  ! 

In  1859,  he  was  appointed  by  Hons.  D.  R.  Floyd, 

Jones,  and  Chas.  A.  Floyd,  then  Supervisors  of  Oyster  Bay 
and  Huntington,  to  run  the 

DIVISION  LINE 

between  those  towns. 

This  line  is  identical  with  the  line  between  the  counties  of 
Queens  and  Suffolk.  It  is  about  twelve  miles  in  length  over 
the  land.  Portions  of  the  line  at  each  end  were  tradition- 
ally located  ;  but  the  new  straight  line  deviated  from  both, 
and  led  through  forest  and^thicket,  and  across  cleared  fields. 
The  survey  was  completed  in  July  of  that  year,  and  the 
several  monuments  erected  along  the  line  in  the  Spring  of 
1860. 

Tn  May,  1862,  occurred  the 


GREAT   FIRE 


the  most  extensive  and  destructive  that  ever  was  known  in 
the  town  of  Brookhaven,  or,  in  fact,  on  Long  Island.  It 
lasted  two  days,  urged  on  by  high  winds,  and  devasted  in 
its  course  his  own  and  his  father's  woodland,  and  caused 


44  YAPHANK   AS   IT  IS. 

much  loss.     Soon  after,  he  spent  some  time  in  traversing 
the  burnt  district,  and  preparing  a  map,  which  exhibited, 
in  a  clear  manner,  the  location  and  extent  of  that  disaster. 
Several  years  previous  to  this,  the 

CRANBERRY     CULTURE 

began  to  excite  attention  in  Suffolk  County. 

Believing  he  had  some  land  adapted  to  this  culture,  he 
undertook  to  prepare  it  for  that  purpose.  It  was  a  swamp  ; 
a  soil  of  peat,  hidden  under  a  thicket  of  bushes  and  trees. 
After  a  series  of  years,  with  indomitable  perseverance,  and 
the  expenditure  of  much  personal  labor  and  money,  he 
brought  a  portion  into  a  suitable  condition  for  planting,  and 
has  since  grown  some  of  the  finest  cranberries  ever  exhibited 
in  our  county. 

At  a  meeting  held  at  Thompson  Station,  February  1st, 
1865,  to  reorganize  the  Suffolk  County  Agricultural  Society, 
he  was  elected 

TREASURER, 

an  office  of  trust,  the  duties  of  which  he  executed  during 
four  successive  years  with  marked  ability. 

His  financial  reports  are  models  of  exactness  in  detail. 

He  took  an  active  part,  also,  in  other  respects,  to  promote 
the  prosperity  of  the  Society. 

While  still  engaged  in  the  duties  of  this  position,  he  was 
nominated  by  the  Republican  party  and  elected 

COUNTY    SUPERINTENDENT  OF  THE  POOR. 

He  aimed,  during  his  three  years'  term  of  office,  to  dis- 
charge every  requisite  duty  in  a  thorough  manner,  and  to 
make  as  little  expense  as  possible  for  his  personal  services. 

In  his  third  official  year — 1871 — the  County  Alms  House 
was  completed,  and  he  had  the  chief  care  of  getting  it  in 
readiness  for  its  future  inmates.  After  the  furniture  and 
other  articles  were  procured,  he  spent  several  nights  alone 


YAPHANK   AS   IT   18.  45 

in  the  house,  to  guard  the  public  property  from  tire  or  other 
loss. 

Seeing  the  importance,  in  the  first  year  of  its  practical  op- 
eration, of  having  this  new  institution  managed  with  pru- 
dence and  an  accurate  account  of  its  expenses  recorded,  as 
a  criterion  for  the  future,  he  concluded  to  accept  the  charge 
of  it,  and,  with  his  wife  as  matron,  resided  there  during  the 
year  1872. 

No  two  persons  could  have  been  found  who  combined 
more  intelligence,  industry,  fidelity  and  efficiency  for  the 
varied  duties  of  the  position,  than  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Weeks. 
Nor  will  the  house  ever  be  managed  for  the  interests  of  both 
the  inmates  and  the  public  with  more  sedulous  care  than 
was  exercised  by  them. 

Besides  the  active  duties  of  supervising  the  house,  he 
conducted  the  correspondence,  purchased  the  supplies,  kept 
the  accounts  and  register,  and  never  hesitated  to  "put  his 
shoulder  to  the  wheel,"  whenever  his  skill  and  strength 
were  required.  He  originated  and  began  the  system  of  in- 
terments in  a  uniform  manner,  and  of  registering  the  same 
for  future  identification. 

HIS   TEMPERANCE   PRINCIPLES. 

He  may  justly  be  considered  a  temperance  veteran  ;  for 
when  he  was  about  two  years  old,  he  refused  all  drinks  bnt 
pure  water.  What  at  first  might  have  been  a  freak  of  ob- 
stinacy, became,  in  time,  a  settled  principle,  from  which 
neither  persuasion  nor  ridicule  could  move  him. 

Before  the  first  temperance  society  was  formed — in  1825 
—he  was  a  "cold  water  man,"  and  for  more  than  fifty  years 
has  quenched  his  thirst  with  nothing  but.  water,  to  the  ex- 
elusion  of  all  spirituous  liquors,  tea  and  coffee.  Nor  has 
he  ever  used  tobacco  in  any  form.  He  feels  neither  the  de- 
sire nor  need  of  these  articles.  To  his  abstemiousness  in 
this  respect,  and  to  his  physical  activity,  he  ascribes  the 
long  combined  good  health  and  strength  with  which  he  has 
been  blest. 


46  YAPHANK   AS   IT   IS. 

He  would  urge  the  youth  of  his  country,  for  their  health 
and  independence,  to  adopt  the  same  habits.  And  he  would 
dissuade  the  young  men  of  our  land  from  the  use  of  intoxi- 
cating drinks,  and  from  the  useless  and  pernicious  practice 
of  using  tobacco. 

To  those  addicted  to  this  habit  he  likes  occasionally  to 
relate,  that  an  ingenious  citizen  of  Boston  once  devised 

A   SUBSTITUTE   FOB   TOBACCO, 

The  chief  recommendations  of    which    were,  that   it  was 
just  as  nasty,  and  a  great  deal  cheaper  ! 

PERSONAL. 

Mr.  Weeks  is  about  the  medium  height,  compactly  built, 
fully  developed,  active,  and  powerful.  His  countenance  is 
dominant,  but  intellectual.  He  has  a  pleasing  address, 
and  is  unpretending  in  his  language  and  appearance.  He 
walks  with  a  hurried,  eager  gait,  and,  seen  upon  the  street, 
would  be  taken  for  a  mechanic,  or  some  one  with  a  job  on 
hand,  and  a  limited  time  to  perform  it  in. 

He  is  never  at  a  loss  for  something  to  do.  With  his 
family  cares,  his  bees,  his  garden,  and  work-shop,  his  atten- 
tion and  labors  are  ever  employed  and  diversified. 

He  is  skilled  in  the  use  of  mechanics'  tools,  and  his  work- 
shop is  replete  with  every  one  in  ordinary  use.  With  his 
books  and  the  public  journals  his  leisure  time  is  beguiled. 
He  always  sees  something  ahead  not  yet  accomplished. 

Mr.  Weeks  was  always  fond  of  athletic  sports,  and  is 
still  a  graceful  skater.  Although  not  an  adept  in  all  the 
variations  of  the  modern  art,  yet  he  has  never  met  an  equal 
in  delineating  the  capital  letters  of  the  alphabet,  with  his 
skates,  on  ice. 

In  1848  he  married  Miss  Mary  Ooswell,  of  Schoharie 
County,  a  most  estimable  and  intelligent  lady.  Their  union 
has  been  blest  with  twelve  children — six  sons  and  six  daugh- 
ters— nine  of  whom  are  now  living. 


VI. 
DANIEL  DOWNS  SWEEZY. 

PERSONAL — HIS   BUSINESS — IN   THE   FAMILY. 

Downs  Sweezy  is  the  eldest  son  and  heir  of  the  late  Chris- 
topher Sweezy.  His  father  kept  a  tavern  for  many  years 
in  the  old  homestead  ;  that  has  since  been  demolished.  In 
those  early  days,  what  is  now  Yaphank  was  then  Millville, 
or  Middle  Island,  an  almost  unknown  hamlet  of  about  half 
a  dozen  houses. 

PERSONAL. 

D.  D.  Sweezy  is  about  sixty-live  years  old,  sickly  and 
broken-down. 

His  sympathy  for  the  outside  world  and  the  suffering 
masses  is  limited.  Generally  agreeable  and  entertaining, 
sometimes  arbitrary  and  self-willed.  He  looks  out  on  the 
world,  he  sees  the  oppressed  struggling  in  the  sea  of  pov- 
erty, he  knows  the  bleak  winds  chill  the  hearts  of  thou- 
sands, and  that  the  inexorable  demon  ever  haunts  their 
door.  His  ears  are  deaf  to  their  cries,  and  his  eyes  rest 
upon  them  as  upon  a  Summer  landscape. 

Downs  Sweezy  is  not  a  charitable  man  ! 

In  his  dealings  with  men  he  is  called  honest  and  honor- 
able, but  exacting  and  stringent.  If  there  be  any  enviable 
side  of  a  bargain,  he  inevitably  secures  it. 

The  history  of  Downs  Sweezy  is  the  history  of  his 
brother,  Van  Ransellar.  God  has  given  them  much  of  this 
world' s  goods.  He  has  made  their  hearts  smile  with  plenty. 
While  others  go  down  in  the  vortex,  they  prosper  and  are 
happy.  Their  "  munificent "  gifts  are ''showered  "  on  the 


48  YAPHANK   AS   IT  18. 

church.  If  the  spiritual  demands  are  satiated  they  regard 
the  world  and  social  decorum  secure.  But,  who  will  ap- 
pease the  physical  ?  None  can  satisfy  the  requirements  of 
God  with  an  empty  stomach !  Did  the  Israelites  in  the 
wilderness  ?  Will  our  local  poor  ?  Then  let  our  rich  un- 
lock their  coffers  !  God  has  blessed  them  witli  abundance  ; 
but  he  never  intended  they  should  hoard  while  poor  hu- 
manity cries  for  bread.  It  is  a  solemn  spectacle  to  see  men, 
whose  livos  hang  upon  brittle  threads,  labor  more  eagerly 
on  the  road  to  riches  as  the  grave  draws  nearer,  and  the  cur- 
tain is  rolling  down  over  their  last  acts  ! 

HIS  BUSINESS. 

By  profession,  Downs  Sweezy  is  a  miller  and  farmer. 
For  years  Van  Ransaeller  and  himself  worked  the  old  mill 
their  father  owned.  Time  made  rapid  changes.  Their 
father  died  ;  Van  Ransaeller  sold  his  interest  to  Downs, 
and  the  old  mill  was  hauled  down,  and  a  more  capacious 
and  better  modeled  one  built  on  nearly  the  old  site. 

His  mills  have  proved  paying  institutions,  and  have  a 
reputation  of  over  sixty  years'  standing. 

IN   THE   FAMILY. 

He  has  a  wife  and  one  child — a  daughter.  In  them  is 
centered  his  interest.  Bread  would  be  deleterious  to  his 
stomach  if  his  family  pronounced  it  unfit  food.  May  would 
be  the  dreariest  month  of  the  year  if  his  family  did  not 
enjoy  it;  and  thus  he  is  known  in  the  family.  He  is  a 
pleasant  man  at  home — affable  and  courteous. 

Of  late — Downs  Sweezy  has  not  given  his  business  much 
personal  supervision.  He  has  suffered  many  long  years 
with  a  chronic  disease,  and  twice  tottered  over  the  brink  of 
the  grave. 

As  long  as  the  waves  murmer  on  the  shores  of  Willow 
Lake,  and  the  groans  of  Sweezy' s  Mill  are  wafted  to  the 
ears  of  the  villagers,  the  name  of  Sweezy  will  remain  fresh 
on  the  annals  of  Yaphank's  history. 


EDWARD   WICKHAM    MILLS. 


VII. 
EDWARD  WICKHAM  MILLS. 

HIS  YOUTHFUL    ENTERPRISE — HIS   SENSIBLE   VIEW    OF   BUSI- 
NESS— POPULAR  WITH  ALL — PERSONAL. 

HIS  YOUTHFUL  ENTERPRISE. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  born  in  Middle  Town, 
Orange  Co.,  the  19th  day  of  June,  1849.  He  is  the  son  of 
Edmund  Smith  arid  Elmira  Finn  Mills. 

Early  in  life  young  Wickham  evinced  an  enterprising 
inclination,  and  combining  an  invincible  will  with  honorable 
resolutions,  he  launched  into  the  business  world.  His 
name  was  first  brought  before  the  commercial  public  in  a 
manufacturing  capacity.  Like  all  successful  merchants  and 
tradesmen,  he  was  first  doomed  to  endure  a  failure,  before  he 
could  appreciate  a  success.  His  factory  speculation  was  not 
auspicious,  and  may  be  credited  as  one  stumble  in  his  finan- 
cial career.  But  defeat  is  in  dispensable  to  lay  a  facile  road 
to  wealth.  Thus,  when  but  a  youth,  he  became  involved 
in  a  money  difficulty  that  would  have  discouraged  more 
mature  minds. 

But  young  Wickham  was  not  disheartened.     Though  his 
initiation  into  a  business  sphere  slightly  wilted  his  enthusi- 
asm, it  never  daunted  his  fixed  determinations  and  aspira 
tions. 

He  canceled  all  claims  against  him,  left  the  ether  so 
unhealthy,  and  came  to  congenial  little  Yaphank. 

In  1859  he  entered  the  store  of  his  brother-in-law,  as 
under  clerk.  His  restless  enterprise  did  not  allow  him  to 
remain  contented  in  that  humble  position,  and  giving  posi- 


52  YAPHANK    AS   IT   IS. 

tive  evidence  of  greater  efficiency,  was  deservedly  promoted 
to  the  head  of  Mr.  Mills'  mercantile  affairs  in  Yaphank. 

His  increasing  business  increases  his  friends  and  popu- 
larity. Such  laudable  motives  in  a  young  man  are  sure 
prognostics  of  a  brilliant  future. 

In  1872  we  see  him  again  settled  upon  a  mercantile  foun- 
dation, as  the  dashing  young  successor  to  J.  P.  Mills.  No 
more  a  slave  of  the  dry-goods  counter,  he  is  responsible  for 
the  success  or  failure  of  his  own  establishment.  When  the 
shingle  of  "JOHN  P.  MILLS,  MERCHANT,"  was  taken  down, 
and  the  glaring  appellation  of  "  E.  WICKHAM  MILLS" 
looked  out  over  the  dormant  village,  a  ring  of  joy  echoed 
from  every  home. 

HIS   SENSIBLE  VIEW    OF   BUSINESS. 

Mr.  Mills  enjoys  a  reasonable  view  of  this  subject.  He 
believes  that  what  nature  kindly  bestowed  upon  us  we 
lack  in  ambition  and  enterprise  ;  that  if  we  can  centre  cap- 
italists' attention  to  our  wasting  virtues,  a  multiplication  of 
population  will  inevitably  follow,  and  opposition  spring 
up.  Opposition  being  the  vital  of  trade,  good  effects  will 
consequently  ensue  ;  thus  benefiting  merchants,  tradesmen 
and  citizens  alike.  He  believes  there  are  stumbling  stones 
in  every  path  to  improvement,  and  that  the  path  to  Yap- 
hank  is  no  exception. 

POPULAR  WITH     ALL. 

With  his  customers  and  friends  he  is  popular  for  his  fa- 
cetiousness  and  gentlemanly  bearing.  ,  Always  character- 
ized by  his  humor  and  jocularity,  he  wins  a  friend  in  every 
patron. 

From  the  four  points  of  the  compass  his  customers  flock. 
No  house  in  Brookhaven  Town  has  a  firmer  corner  stone,  or 

* 

has  stood  more  firmly  through  financial  eruptions  and 
panics,  than  his. 

The  extent  of  his  trade  is  really  astonishing.  Far  up 
among  the  hills  of  Coram  he  sends  his  wares.  The  people  of 


YAPHANK    AS   IT   18.  f>3 

Bellport,  Brookhaven,  Southaven,  Mastic,  and  Moriches, 
use  his  merchandise.  From  the  Manor  and  Eastport,  and 
other  Eastern  villages,  the  people  come  to  buy  their  goods, 
and  to  drive  hard  bargains.  In  Middle  Island,  Sweezy- 
town,  and  the  Ridge  he  is  known  as  the  luminary  of 
''Mills'  store." 

His  books  will  favorably  compare  with  any  similar 
establishment  in  Suffolk  Co. 

The  head -light  of  his  house  is  politeness.  The  tottering 
old  lady,  with  a  dozen  eggs  and  a  pound  of  butter,  is  granted 
an  exchange  as  pleasantly  and  with  the  same  air  of  polite- 
ness that  is  showered  upon  the  "  upper  tens,"  who  carry  a 
rustle  of  nacarat  and  an  odoriferous  scent  of  band-boxes 

about  them. 

PERSONAL. 

Mr.  Mills  is  about  five  feet  eight  inches  in  height,  and 
more  handsome  and  prepossessing  than  business  men  gen- 
erally are.  His  cheerful,  agreeable  manners  win  him  friends 
among  the  stern  sex,  while  the  Napoleonistic  twists  of  his 
elegant  moustache  charm  the  gentle  element  to  perfection. 

He  has  mastered  the  "dips"  that  fascinate  the  tender 
ones,  and  while  he  possesses  all  the  art  requisite  to  win  the 
good  graces  of  both  sexes,  he  is  also  as  undeniably  popular 
in  the  parlor  and  home  circle  as  in  the  business  sphere. 

A  polite  "good  morning,"  and  a  graceful  bow,  are  ar- 
ticles connected  with  his  establishment  that  cost  no  outlay, 
but  are  priceless  to  him. 

He  is  slight  in  build  ;  compact  and  lithe :  while  a  merry 
twinkle  beams  from  his  guileless  orbs. 

He  never  boasts,  says  but  little  regarding  his  private  af- 
fairs, and  carries  concealed  the  tide  that  turns  the  wheels 
of  MB  business. 

He  is  very  fond  of  music,  and  is  quite  an  Arion  in  his 
way.  For  years  he  has  sung  in  the  Presbyterian  choir,  and 
he  moves  conspicuously  at  their  meetings. 


54  YAPHANK    AS    IT    IS. 

His  heart  is  centered  in  his  increasing  business,  in  the 
young  ladies  of  his  acquaintance,  and  in  the  friendship  of 
all.  In  consummation  he  is  a  model  merchant,  a  model 
Yaphanker,  and  ah  !  were  it  my  privilege  to  declare  him  a 
model  husband  and  papa !  Well,  he  is  a  model  beau,  ne 
vertheless,  as  many  blushing  damsels  are  willing  to  verify. 

May  his  lines  ever  be  cast  in  pleasant  places ;  may  his 
voice  never  lose  its  ring,  or  his  smiles  fail  to  plant  roses  in 
the  hearts  of  the  dear  ones  ! 


VIII. 
ALFRED  ACKERLY. 

HIS   BUSINESS — IN   THE   CHURCH. 

Alfred  Ackerly  was  born  in  Patchogue,  Suffolk  County, 
September  16th,  1818. 

He  came  to  Yaphank,  December  9th,  1843,  and  began  his 
apprenticeship  with  Tunis  Whitbeck,  a  wheelwright. 

He  is  fifty-six  years  old,  but  looks  much  older.  Like 
Hawkins  Gerard,  his  daily  worth  is  daily  substantiated  ; 
and  it  can  never  be  said  of  him  that  his  every -day  life  and 
examples  have  guided  souls  astray. 

In  the  death  of  Mr.  Smith,  he  suffered  the  loss  of  a  Chris- 
tian friend  and  confidant ;  indeed,  he  lamented  much  his 
tragic  end. 

His  is  the  blended  features  of  benevolence,  consecration, 
and  sincere  piety.  His  heart  is  so  evidently  in  consolida- 
tion and  in  unison  with  his  missionary  spirit,  the  warm- 
hearted Christian  man,  and  not  the  egotist,  wins  the  esteem 
of  all. 

During  the  great  revival  of  1853,  in  Yaphank,  he  found 
peace  in  a  Saviour's  love,  and  bowed  before  the  God  of  his 
fathers.  He  has  since  been  a  supporting  pillar  of  the 
Church  ;  in  fact,  one  of  the  most  supporting. 

Many  affairs  of  the  Yaphank  Presbyterian  Church  are 
trusted  with  him ;  and  the  minds  of  its  members  rest  un- 
alloyed by  fears  of  his  abusing  their  confidence,  so  un- 
bounded is  their  faith  in  his  honesty  and  integrity.  Mr. 
Ackerly  wears  the  garb  of  every-day  Christianity,  and  dons 
no  pharisaical  robes  to  make  good  impressions,  and  in- 
dulges in  no  crocodile  tears  to  melt  the  hearts  of  the  worldly. 


56  YAPHANK    AS   IT   18. 

He  prays  with  unassuming  earnestness  and  a  heart  over- 
flowing with  Gfodly  and  philanthropic  love.  He  is  a  repre- 
sentative Yaphanker,  because,  if  there  is  any  external  and 
internal  virtue  in  the  place,  he  is  a  representation  of  that 
limited  morality. 

His  habits  are  regular ;  and  it  would  not  be  difficult  to 
meet  him  on  weekdays,  or  on  the  Sabbath.  He  seldom 
deviates  from  the  beaten  routine  of  his  business  and  habits. 

Mr.  Ackerly  is  a  friend  to  every  man,  woman  and  child, 
and  is  an  earnest  advocate  of  the  Golden  Rule.  He  knows 
how  to  touch  the  hearts  of  sinners.  Unlike  many  co-work- 
ers in  the  same  vineyard,  he  never  startles  his  hearers  with 
a  dreadful  catalogue  of  crime  attached  to  their  individual 
selves,  except  those  guileless  ones  within  the  partial  walls 
of  the  churcli !  He  shuns  egotism  in  his  walks  with  men, 
thus  escaping  the  rock  upon  which  so  many  Christians 
split. 

He  was  for  years  the  chorister  of  the  Yaphank  Presby- 
terian Church  and  Superintendent  of  the  Sabbath-school. 
The  former  position  he  probably  would  have  occupied  to 
this  day,  but  the  church,  growing  more  aristocratic,  he  gave 
way  to  an  imported  bellowing  machine. 

HIS  BUSINESS. 

He  is  a  wheelwright  by  profession,  and  is  considered  an 
excellent  workman.  After  he  was  married  he  came  to  Yap 
hank  and  mastered  his  trade  in  his  brother-in-law's  shop. 
After  he  became  a  journeyman,  and  anterior  to  his  perma- 
nent residence  in  Yaphank,  he  worked  as  a  ship  mechanic  in 
Drowned  Meadow — Port  Jefferson. 

His  patrons  know  him,  and  his  work  meets  satisfaction. 
Men  that  wish  a  job  done  on  which  reliance  can  be  placed 
carry  it  to  his  shop. 

A  movement  was  set  on  foot  in  1872  to  establish  a  car- 
riage factory  in  Yaphank,  and  Mr.  Ackerly  was  conspicu- 
ous as  one  mover.  It  is  a  work  still  in  contemplation,  and 
one  the  vicinity  is  incomplete  without. 


IX. 
SAMUEL  F.  NORTON. 

AH   A    NEIGHBOR   AND   FRIEND — IN  THE   CHURCH — AT   HOME. 

Mr.  Norton  was  born  at  Selden,  Soffolk  Co.,  in  1814 ;  he 
is,  consequently,  60  years  of  age.  He  married  Eliza  Sweezy, 
a  daughter  of  Christopher  Sweezy,  Yaphank,  and  settled 
here  in  1847. 

AS  A  NEIGHBOR  AND  FRIEND. 

If  smiles  and  jokes  scatter  flowers  along  Life's  rough 
path,  Dea.  Norton  is  a  benefactor  to  mankind.  His  kind 
words  and  ever-smiling  face  have  lightened  the  burdens  of 
many  weary  travelers  on  the  Great  Highway  ;  and  where 
thorns  would  have  grown,  he  planted  the  sweet  rose  by  his 
cheering  words  and  generous  deeds. 

If  a  neighbor  or  friend  is  in  distress,  succor  and  aid  can 
always  be  found  in  Dea.  Norton.  Whether  you  meet  him 
on  the  street  or  in  the  social  circle,  a  pleasant  word  and 
smile  will  greet  you.  He  never  changes.  He  wears  the 
same  geniality  under  Winter's  dark  and  lowering  clouds  as 
in  the  sunny  days  of  June.  When  clouds  obscure  the  sun, 
his  jokes  are  just  as  pithy.  While  the  storms  of  life  are 
raging  without,  he  has  an  Eden  within.  God  bless  such 
men!  If  more  fathers  were  like  him,  and  more  husbands 
imitated  his  example,  less  tears  would  be  shed,  and  less 
anguish  be  suffered  ! 

IN   THE   CHURCH. 

Dea.  Norton  is  purely  Presbyterian  in  his  religious  be- 
lief. He  has  been  an  elder  in  the  Yaphank  Presbyterian 


68  YAPHANK    AS   IT   IS. 

Church  for  many  years,  and  the  position  he  will  probably 
hold  until  he  is  borne  to  his  grave.  The  same  sympathetic 
cheerfulness  characterizes  his  movements  in  the  church  that 
makes  him  popular  without.  No  man  in  Yaphank  possesses 
the  qualifications,  or  could  give  the  universal  satisfaction 
that  is  annexed  to  his  connection  and  relationship  with  the 
church  and  its  affairs. 

He  is  elastic  and  sprightly  in  his  disposition  ;  cheerful, 
open-hearted,  and  honorable.  The  honor  of  Yaphank,  his 
adopted  village,  is  always  dear  to  him  ;  and  the  spiritual 
and  physical  wants  of  his  townsmen  find  a  home  in  his 
heart. 

As  long  as  Yaphank  has  a  being,  his  name  will  form  an 
important  part  of  its  historic  interest. 

AT   HOME. 

In  the  family  he  is  jovial  and  genial.  To  appreciate  his 
true  merit,  he  must  be  seen  "At  Home."  His  primitive 
occupation  is  "  tilling  the  soil,"  but  he  is  ingenious  at  any- 
thing, and  worked  for  a  long  period  in  the  shop  where 
Alfred  Ackerly  is  now  settled.  In  the  phrase  of  the  country, 
he  is  a  jack-at-all-trades. 

Mr.  Norton  is  well  versed  in  the  history  of  his  age,  and 
is  an  interesting  conversationist ;  not  dignified  and  ostenta- 
tious, but  social  and  instructive.  An  evening  could  not  be 
whiled  more  integrally  pleasant  than  with  Samuel  P.  Nor- 
ton. 


X. 
JOHN  HAMMOND. 

PERSONAL — AT   HOME,     ABROAD,    AND    IN   THE   CHURCH. 

Sketches  of  prominent  Yaphankers,  minus  the  history  of 
John  Hammond,  would  not  be  complete.  His  burly  figure 
towers  prominently  everywhere.  Strangers  don't  appre- 
ciate the  beauty  of  Yaphank  until  they  gaze  upon  his  ele- 
phantine form.  He  is  acquainted  with  the  history  of  nearly 
every  citizen — old  and  young.  Their  lives — good  and  bad- 
lie  buried  in  his  astounding  memory.  He  can  rake  over  the 
bones  of  the  past  at  will,  and  excite  his  hearers  with  a  re- 
cital of  the  events  connected  with  the  career  of  "  So-and-so.' 
To  insure  the  success  of  any  undertaking  in  Yaphank,  Tie 
must  first  be  interviewed,  his  advice  obtained,  and  ideas 
consulted  ;  then  rush  impetuously  onward — success  is 
yours  ! 

If  a  sensation  throws  the  village  into  excitement,  the  de- 
tails of  the  case  can  earliest  be  obtained  of  him.  If  one  be 
in  doubt  regarding  "the  scandal  about  So-and-so,"  he  di- 
rects his  steps  toward  Mr.  Hammond's  shop.  That  shop 
is  famous  !  It  is  as  well  known  in  this  vicinity  as  the  Mam- 
moth Cave  is  in  Kentucky,  or  the  City  Hall  in  New  York 
City. 

PERSONAL. 

Mr.  Hammond  was  born  in  Yaphank,  Nov.  25,  1814.  He 
is,  accordingly,  60  years  of  age.  He  has  a  large,  heavy 
frame,  fully  six  feet  in  height — ponderous  and  powerful. 
Mr.  Hammond  is  a  pleasant  companion,  abounding  with 
anecdotes  and  humor  ;  and  did  he  not  dive  too  often  into 


60  YAPHANK    AS   IT  IS. 

personalities,  and  unlock  his  knowledge  of  men  and  things 
a  more  agreeable  neighbor  and  citizen  could  not  embellish 
the  record  of  any  village. 

He  is  an  old  whaleman,  and  made  a  number  of  voyages  to 
ki  Greenland's  Icy  Mountains,"  during  the  whaling  fever- 
During  James  Weeks'  administration,  he  was  conductor  on 
the  Long  Island  Railroad,  and  during  his  three  years  of 
office  he  lost  not  one  day.  Mr.  Hammond  has  traveled 

uch,  and  has  a  knowledge  of  the  great  events  of  his  day. 

e  can  recall,  with  remarkable  exactness,  what  transpired 
a  half  century  ago.  It  is  interesting  to  listen  to  stories  of 
his  school  days,  and  the  incidents  familiar  with  the  names 
of  our  most  prominent  men. 

AT   HOME,    ABROAD,  AND   IN   THE   CHURCH. 

If  John  Hammond's  pleasantry  was  not  fitful  and  varia 
ble,  and  his  spirits  governed  by  the  clouds,  and  changing 
events,  a  kinder  father  and  husband  could  not  exist.  In 
the  language  of  an  old  villager  :  "He  can  be  the  most  agree- 
able, or  the  most  disagreeable  cuss  on  earth."  But  I  would 
inform  my  readers  that  there  are  more  despicable  characters 
than  John  Hammond,  and  they  exist  in  a  land  of  civiliza- 
tion, too,  and  under  the  ring  of  the  Gospel.  His  disagree- 
ableness  is  an  exception,  and  not  the  rule  of  his  life.  He  is 
very  blunt  in  the  use  of  language,  and  what  slumbers  in 
his  heart,  he  pours  out  on  friend  and  foe  alike. 

Mr.  Hammond  is  a  pleasant  man  at  home,  and  the 
wants  of  his  family  are  few.  The  attractions  of  home  are 
dear  to  him,  and  he  never  wearies  in  extolling  his  children. 

Abroad,  Mr.  Hammond  would  be  taken  for  an  old  school 
merchant,  or  a  railroad  king  ;  in  fact,  one  of  the  solid  men 
of  the  times.  At  home,  he  would  be  taken  for  what  he  is. 

In  the  church  he  figures  conspicuously.  He  is  called  a 
man  of  rare  musical  attainments,  but  has  superiors. 

Mr.  Hammond  is  considered  a  partisan  of  the  "  Iron 
Government" — a  denouncer  of  improvement  as  circum- 


PAPHANK   AS   IT  IS.  61 

vention.     Gyneocracy,  Woman's  Rights,  and  Ben.  Butler 
would  be  buried  in  one  tomb  if  his  will  was  supreme. 

He  is  termed  J.  P.  Mills'  vindicator,  confidant,  and 
champion.  What  Mr.  Mills  don't  like,  Mr.  Hammond  will 
not  endorse.  What  he  does  like,  will  be  attained,  if  com- 
bined efforts  possess  power.  It  is  astonishing  what  vast  in- 
fluence Mr.  Mills  sways  over  the  minds  of  some  of  our  most 
solid  citizens  !  He  is  indirectly  responsible  for  the  present 
state  of  affairs  in  this  place.  In  obeyance  with  his  will, 
one  hundred  thousand  dollars  would  be  invested  in  embel- 
lishing the  place,  introducing  new  improvements  and  busi- 
ness, and  trebling  the  census  of  Yaphank  in  one  year.  A 
dozen  prospering  factories  would  raise  their  smoky  peaks 
heavenward,  and  send  the  cheering  din  of  trade  to  the  lan- 
guid homes,  in  accordance  with  his  wish. 


XI. 
SAMUEL   LESTER   ROMAN. 

PERSONAL. 

S.  L.  Ho  man  was  born  in  Henry  street,  Brooklyn,  Jan. 
31,  1823.  He  is  not  a  decidedly  prominent  Yaphanker  at 
the  present  time,  but  sixteen  years  ago  was  the  largest 
farmer  in  the  place.  He  employed  more  laborers,  and  did 
more  toward  advancing  the  Noble  Art,  than  any  citizen  in 
Yaphank. 

But  fire,  fraud,  war  and  ill -health  did  its  work  with 
him.  When  the  Great  Joel  Smith  Fire  crossed  the  Island, 
it  swept  away  his  woodland.  Affliction  after  affliction  fol- 
lowed like  an  armed  man.  Piles  of  cord- wood  rotted  by  the 
L.  I.  Railroad  track,  which  he  was  obliged  to  lose  through 
the  rascality  of  the  company.  He  looked  blindly  through 
a  veil.  To  recover  his  losses,  he  purchased  another  farm, 
and  enlarged  his  business.  Ton  on  ton  of  fertilizing  ma- 
nure was  plowed  under  the  sod  of  his  new  purchase,  and 
the  sky  looked  clear  once  more.  Soon  the  boom  from 
Fort  Sumter  rolled  over  the  land.  That  gun  was  the  signal 
of  his  downfall.  The  men  who  grasped  him  by  the  hand 
in  prosperity,  refused  him  compromise  or  aid.  He  never 
asked  for  quarter,  and  it  never  was  granted.  His  Summer 
dreams  had  vanished,  and  he  went  down  as  many  strong 
men  have  gone  before.  His  relations  proved  foes,  and  the 
waves  of  adversity  dashed  and  beat  him  to  pieces.  He 
was  a  great  conceptualist,  with  defective  concentrativeness. 
When  the  clouds  gathered,  he  was  obliged  to  succumb  to 
unrelenting  creditors,  and  conceded  without  a  murmur. 


YAPHANK    AS    IT   IS.  63 

His  new  purchase  faded    from  view,   and   his   loss  was 
another' s  gain. 

PERSONAL. 

He  is  a  very  retired  and  unobtrusive  man.  Failure  has 
darkened  the  sky  of  his  life,  and  the  society  of  men  is  un- 
congenial to  him.  He  believes  honest  men  are  exceptions, 
and  not  universal.  He  delights  to  talk  of  the  smart  men 
that  are  gone,  and  dotes  much  on  the  ability  of  his  grand- 
father, Esq.  Mordecai  Homan.  With  his  grandfather  he 
always  lived,  and  stood  beside  his  couch  when  he  expired. 

It  has  been  publicly  declared  that  Esq.  Homan  was,  and 
always  will  be,  the  most  illustrious  Homan  that  ever  lived, 
or  ever  will  live,  in  Brookhaven  Town.  That  assertion  re- 
mains to  be  substantiated  by  time  !  but  it  is  remarkable, 
that  among  all  his  descendants,  not  one  has  inherited  his 
indomitable  will  and  enterprise. 


SERENO   BUBNELL   OVERTON. 


XIT. 
JSERENO  BURNELL  OVERTON. 

PERSONAL — EMBARKS  UPON    A    MERCANTILE  SEA —THE  TRUE 

MAN. 

PERSONAL. 

S.  B.  Overtoil  was  born  on  the  6th  day  of  August,  1827, 
which  makes  him  forty-seven  years  old.  He  lias  a  tall  and 
muscular  form,  well  proportioned  and  developed.  Person- 
ally and  physically  he  appears  not  over  twenty  five.  His 
invariable  pleasantry  and  good  humor  have  made  him 
friends  of  all  who  enjoy  his  acquaintance  and  society. 

Mr.  Overton  is  the  sole  surviving  brother  of  a  family  of 
live — all  falling  victims  to  that  implacable  foe  to  mankind, 
consumption.  He  is  a  working  member  of  the  Yaphank 
Presbyterian  Church  ;  and  a  supporter  of  that  incorpora- 
tion. 

Tn  his  dealings  with  men,  he  is  sharp  and  shrewd,  but 
honest  and  relenting.  All  his  actions  are  characterized  by 
an  original  system  of  his  own.  No  man  pays  more  regard 
to  the  laws  of  health,  or  the  demands  of  nature,  than  does 
Mr.  Overton.  He  has  learned  that  the  best  is  the  cheapest; 
thus  walking  in  light,  while  thousands  grope  in  darkness 
to  their  graves.  He  has,  long  ago,  arrived  at  the  laudable 
conclusion  that  "it  is  not  all  to  live,  or  all  to  die;"  and 
made  the  choice  of  eternity  in  1858.  Mr.  Overton  builds 
not  on  the  sand;  he  knows  that  life  is  but  a  breath  com- 
pared to  the  great  unfathomed,  and  sows  his  seed  wisely. 
He  is  an  unostentatious  man  at  home,  and  in  the  church  ; 
and  attracts  no  attention  with  pompous  words  and  gilded 


68  YAPHANK   AS   IT   IS. 

deeds.  No  man  completes  my  beau  ideal  of  perfection  ; 
for  no  man  is  free  from  guile.  As  long  as  the  sun  throws 
its  effulgent  rays  over  the  earth,  so  long  will  wickedness 
abound.  But,  if  more  were  like  S.  B.  Overton,  the  sun's 
beams  would  pierce  less  dens  of  horror,  and  the  peals  of 
Sabbath  bells  echo  over  less  "waste  places/' 

EMBARKS   UPON    A    MERCANTILE  SEA. 

Mr.  Overton  was  early  apprenticed  to  the  carpenter 
trade  ;  and  after  mastering  it,  he  restlessly  gazed  over  more 
fascinating  fields  than  wielding  the  indispensable  plane.  In 
1851,  he  cast  aside  his  architectural  tools,  and  opened  a 
store  in  Yaphank,  in  partnership  with  his  eldest  brother, 
Osborn. 

In  combination  with  butchering  and  marketing,  they  did 
an  extensive  business.  In  18 — ,  Alfred  Ackerly  and  Son 
purchased  the  business  and  good  will,  and  the  Overton 
partnership  was  dissolved. 

Reverses  are  many.  Bankruptcy,  and  not  success  ;  ad- 
versity, and  not  prosperity,  is  the  law  of  trade.  While 
many  around  Mr.  Overton  envy  him  his  success  in  life,  but 
few  possess  his  erfergy,  shrewdness,  and  clear  comprehen- 
sion of  business.  What  sensible  mind  believes  that  the 
wheel  of  fortune  is  driven  by  the  hand  of  luck  ;  and  who 
credits  the  virtue  of  luck  ? 

Sereno  Overton  had  fewer  opportunities  to  rise  in  the 
world  than  most  young  men  of  his  day.  His  parents  were 
poor;  he  early  began  to  struggle  for  himself;  arid  if  the  tide 
of  fortune  ebbed  and  flowed  in  his  favor,  and  the  billows  of 
adversity  beat  and  tossed  those  around  him,  it  was  due  to 
superior  business  talent  on  his  part,  and  poor  management 
on  the  other. 

While  in  mercantile  business  in  Yapharik,  he  was  saving, 
prudent,  and  judicious.  He  made  money,  friends,  and  an 
honorable  name ;  and  is  more  popular  to-day  than  twenty 
years  ago. 


YAPHANK   AS  IT  IS.  69 

THE  TRUE   MAN. 

No  one  can  speak  depreciatingly  of  Mr.  Overton  ;  no  one 
doubts  his  Christian  integrity,  and  no  one  is  too  high  or  too 
low  to  cherish  his  name.  In  Yaphank,  and  wherever  his 
popularity  extends,  he  is  honored  and  respected  for  his 
unchanging  pleasantness,  sociality,  and  honesty. 

He  is  master  of  his  business,  and  makes  or  refuses  a  bar- 
gain almost  immediately.  As  a  speculator  in  his  business, 
he  is  very  successful.  He  would  be  successful  at  anything 
he  might  apply  himself  thoroughly  to.  He  is  sagacious, 
has  excellent  judgment  and  much  experience,  and  is  candid 
and  unwavering. 

The  struggle  for  wealth  may  prove  the  doom  of  many  ; 
many  memories  may  be  destroyed  by  gold,  and  many  may 
deviate  from  the  pledged  vows  and  narrow  path,  because 
the  glittering  god  shines  more  transplendent  in  the  broad ; 
but  there  are  men  that  we  naturally  credit  with  more  stabil- 
ity of  mind,  and  firmness  of  will,  than  to  be  swerved 
by  even  the  powerful  influence  of  gold ;  and  one  glance 
at  the  genial  but  firm -looking  gentleman  at  the  head 
of  this  sketch,  will  confirm  that  he  can  unquestionably 
be  included  in  that  list  of  lamentably  scarce  individuals 
who  rank  honor  and  friends  and  a  hope  in  the  good  by-and- 
by  above  the  short  enjoyments  of  gold.  Mr.  Overton  is  a 
True  Man. 


EDWARD   LIVINGSTON   GERARD. 


XIII. 
EDWARD  LIVINGSTON  GERARD. 

PERSONAL — A    REVIEW — HIS   ACCOMPLISHMENTS. 

Edward  L.  Gerard  was  born  in  Port  Jefferson,  March 
llth,  1836.  He  came  to  Yaphank  in  1842— when  but  six 
years  old — and  entered  the  family  of  his  uncle,  Hawkins 
Gerard. 

He  early  evinced  decided  executive  ability,  and  soon  be- 
came manager  of  his  uncle's  business,  and  is  his  probable 
successor.  While  the  giddy  and  gay  were  whirling  their 
leisure  hours  in  the  ma/y  dance,  or  frequenting  places  of 
amusement,  young  Edward  was  poring  over  his  books  and 
storing  up  the  knowledge  that  has  proved  so  indispensable 
in  his  after  life.  Mr.  Gerard  began  life  with  nothing  but  an 
honest  purpose,  an  invincible  will,  and  a  kind  uncle  and 
aunt ;  but  by  his  untiring  energy  and  his  thorough  compre- 
hension of  the  details  of  business,  he  has  gained  for  himself 
an  unquestionable  business  reputation.  He  is  an  industri- 
ous, hard-working,  public-spirited  man,  and  has  done  much 
to  improve  Yaphank. 

In  th«  Autumn  of  1871,  he  was  elected  a  Superintendent 
of  our  county  poor,  in  which  capacity  he  reflects  credit 
upon  himself  and  his  constituents. 

Honorable  as  is  his  record  in  business  relations,  it  is  as 
a  Christian  and  neighbor  that  his  name  is  cherished.  He 
has  long  been  a  member  of  the  Yaphank  Presbyterian 
Church,  and  at  the  present  writing  officiates  in  the  follow- 
ing capacities :  elder,  trustee,  organist  and  secretary.  In 
the  infancy  of  that  enterprise,  its  prosperity  enlisted  his 


74  YAPHANK   AS   IT  18. 

uncle's  sympathy,  prayers,  and  beneficence  ;  while  Edward, 
in  its  success  and  firm  establishment,  in  the  beautiful  little 
house  of  worship,  and  under  able  pastors,  greatly  rejoiced. 
He  married  in  1873,  and  decided  to  settle  in  Old  Yap- 
hank — a  place  made  doubly  dear  to  him  by  business  suc- 
cess and  friendship's  sacred  ties.  Yaphank  could  ill  afford 
to  lose  so  honorable  and  enterprising  a  citizen  as  E.  L. 
Gerard  has  ever  shown  himself  to  be. 

PERSONAL. 

Mr.  Gerard  possesses  two  peculiarities  that  won  General 
Grant  national  fame.  What  he  knows  he  uses  practically, 
and  for  a  purpose.  He  has  chosen  his  calling,  and  mas- 
tered it.  Like  our  illustrious  President,  he  is  not  loqua- 
cious. What  he  says  and  does — although  sometimes  gov- 
erned by  innate  arbitrariness — is  intended  in  strict  conform- 
ity to  honesty  and  honor. 

He  is  a  trifle  below  the  average  statiire  ;  slender  in  build, 
with  a  wide-awake,  Xankee  look  and  action.  His  prosper- 
ity is  due  to  personal  exertions  ;  luck  is  limitedly  attached 
to  his  success. 

Men  who  envy  Mr.  Gerard  his  sunshine,  could  never  be 
induced  to  follow  his  clouds  to  acquire  it.  No  man  in  the 
town  works  harder,  or  labors  more  hours  than  he.  He  is 
invariably  at  his  business.  Agreeable  and  accommodating, 
he  deserves  success. 

When  Robert  Smith  was  nominated  a  Superintendent  of 
our  county  poor  against  Mr.  Gerard,  he  was  universally 
considered  the  strongest  and  most  influential  candidate. 
Mr.  Gerard's  election  annihilated  all  party  fears,  and  he  has 
since  grown  stronger  in  public  favor,  for  none  doubted  his 
business  qualifications  and  veracity. 

Mr.  Smith' s  defeat — while  it  won  Gerard  victory — reflects 
no  discredit  on  his  individual  ability  and  qualification.  The 
political  sea  ebbed  and  flowed  against  him.  Majority  won, 

d  he  lost  the  day. 


YAPHANK   AS   IT   IS.  75 

A    HEVIEW. 

Mr.  Gerard  is  sometimes  amusing,  but  never  alluring ; 
sometimes  pleasant,  never  fascinating ;  often  spicy,  never 
satirical.  He  would  be  successful  in  any  mercantile  or  com- 
mercial department.  He  would  be  prominent  as  a  mer- 
chant, banker,  or  broker  ;  but  never  as  an  orator  or  minis- 
ter. He  might  become  a  second  Stewart,  but  never  a  Spur- 
geon. 

By  strangers,  Mr.  Gerard  is  seldom  deemed  prepossess- 
ing. He  is  too  retired  unassuming  and  unpretentious  to 
please  the  fancy  world.  Steady,  honorable,  not  supercili- 
ous, nor  ostentatious,  he  must  be  known  to  be  appreci- 
ated. In  consummation,  he  is  neat,  but  not  gaudy. 

HIS   ACCOMPLISHMENTS. 

He  has  what  wealth  or  position  cannot  buy  :  a  contented 
mind. 

Dame  Jenkins  says  "A  man  is  contented  while  fortune 
smiles."  Oh,  you  cruel  proverbial ! 

Mr.  Gerard  early  took  to  beneficial  study,  and  is  consid- 
ered as  well  informed  in  the  current  lore  as  the  prevailing 
privileges  allow. 

Within  the  classicial  walls  of  the  Miller's  Place  Academy, 
Edward  mastered  the  rudiments  of  a  common  education. 
Even  in  his  early  life  no  great  cables  circumferenced  the 
earth  with  bonds  of  electricity,  and  no  iron  horses  thun- 
dered-over  the  land  as  at  the  present  day,  snorting  their 
civilization  and  steam  enterprise  into  the  trackless  forests. 
Railroads  were  in  operation,  but  not  extensively.  Galvanic 
batteries  seldom  shocked  the  skeptical  nerves,  and  no  Gre- 
cian bends  frightened  the  superstitious.  Science  had  made 
but  little  progress,  and  was  crudely  original.  Now,  steam 
plows  uproot  the  sod,  and  golden  grain  waves  over  the 
land,  where  the  original  Americans  slew  the  bison  and  built 
their  wigwams  but  a  little  while  ago.  Thus  E.  L.  Gerard 
acquired  his  education  in  an  age — not  over  a  quarter  of  a 


76  TAPHANK   AS   IT   18. 

century  ago — when  science  had  not  reached  the  culmination 
we  now  enjoy  ;  and  arithmetic,  writing,  geography  and 
spelling  comprised  the  principal  academic  course. 

Mr.  Gerard  is  somewhat  of  a  musician,  and  is  regarded 
as  good  musical  authority.  He  is  ingenious,  withal,  and 
has  produced  articles  possessing  mechanical  excellence. 


XIV. 
SAMUEL  SMITH. 

PUBLIC    AND    PRIVATE — HIS  INSANITY — HIS   HORRIBLE   END. 

Mr.  Smith  was  born  at  West  Field,  Selden,  September 
26,  1822.  He  came  to  Yaphank  from  the  East ;  he  came  in 
search  of  fortune  and  health,  and  found  them  ;  he  found 
the  inland  air  invigorating  and  bracing  ;  the  society  proved 
congenial,  and  he  prospered  and  was  happy.  .  In  the 
church  he  figured  actively,  and  helped  to  sustain  a  num- 
ber of  fruitful  revivals.  Mr.  Smith  was  a  working  Chris- 
tian, and  feared  he  failed  to  meet  the  demands  of  his  Sa- 
viour. Some  say  Mr.  Smith  pounded  the  anvil  of  his  own 
glory  ;  but  it  is  a  cruel  accusation.  He  was  a  semi  illiter- 
ate man,  and  where  he  erred  he  did  it  blindly.  With  his 
settlement  in  Yaphank,  to  the  day  of  his  tragic  death,  the 
same  Godly  spirit  guided  him ;  and  he  often  drank,  with 
sorrow,  the  water  of  Jordan.  Each  heart  knoweth  its  own 
sorrow!  No  one  suspected  the  trouble  battling  in  his 
bosom  until  the  storm  burst.  Upon  God's  altar  he  often 
poure'd  out  his  earthly  tribulations,  and  wept  over  the  in- 
difference of  straying  sheep. 

PUBLIC   AND   PRIVATE. 

He  was  a  hard-working  man,  driving  and  precise  in  busi- 
ness ;  he  was  not  a  genius,  but  what  he  lacked  mentally, 
he  substituted  physically.  Mr.  Smith  was  a  remarkably 
punctual  man  at  business,  and  as  regular  as  old  Sol  peeped 
o'er  the  Eastern  hills  he  was  about  his  calling. 


78  YAPHANK    AS   IT   IS. 

HIS   INSANITY. 

Thursday,  January  29th  dawned  bright  and  cheering 
on  the  quiet  village.  No  outward  movement  denoted  that 
it  was  destined  to  be  a  very  eventful  day  to  Yaphank.  In 
the  cemetery  men  were  preparing  a  grave  for  all  that  was 
mortal  of  Captain  George  Hulse,  one  of  Yaphank's  most 
respected  citizens.  After  a  protracted  illness  of  three  years, 
suffering  with  a  disease  he  was  positive  must  result  fatally, 
he  calmly  and  unmurmuringly  yielded  to  the  implacable 
summons. 

Tiie  day  preceding  the  funeral  of  Captain  Hulse,  it  was 
rumored  that  Samuel  Smith  was  a  religious  maniac.  He 
was  insane  on  religion,  as  proved.  Many  doubted  the  re- 
port, and  others  credited  all  pertaining  to  the  sensational 
rumor,  as  Mr.  Smith  had  established  symptoms  of  an  alien- 
ation of  the  mind,  and  appeared  suffering  and  despondent 
for  a  number  of  days.  Thursday  morning  he  desired  to  be 
carried  to  an  asylum,  as  he  feared  his  inabilit}^  to  with- 
stand the  great  mental  conflict  that  was  torturing  him.  The 
symptoms  evinced  a  positive  aberration  of  the  mind,  and  he 
was  no  longer  responsible  for  his  acts.  He  was  closely 
watched,  and  why  the  deed  was  not  frustrated  is  a  mystery. 
He  at  first  attempted  destruction  by  hanging,  but  a  ladder 
in  the  barn  was  an  obstacle.  His  wife  appeared  on  the 
scene,  and  entreated  him  to  "  come  into  the  house."  She 
left  him  a  moment  to  call  his  son,  and  the  deed  was  done. 
With  a  maniac's  instinctive  cunning,  he  knew  that  a  minute 
more,  some  one  would  interfere  between  him  and  his  pur- 
pose. Determined  to  die,  he  grasped  his  pocket  knife  and 
plunged  it  twice  into  his  neck.  The  blows  severed  a  main 
artery  and  pierced  his  wind-pipe. 

HIS   HORKIBLE   ENDt 

Bleeding  and  dying,  he  was  led  into  the  house.  Doc.  J. 
I.  Baker  was  immediately  summoned,  and  declared  his  re- 
covery hopeless.  For  three  hours  the  Doc.  held  his  finger 


YAPHANK   AS   IT   IS.  79 

in  the  severed  vessel ;  hoping  a  congelation  of  the  blood 
would  allow  a  junction  of  the  artery.  All  that  medical  skill 
could  execute  was  performed  in  the  almost  hopeless  en- 
deavor to  save  him  from  a  suicide's  grave. 

He  called  a  number  of  young  converts  around  his  bed, 
and  though  insanity  was  the  originator  of  ,his  blameless  act, 
he  rationally  conversed  with  them  on  religious  subjects, 
and  implored  them  to  shun  the  paths  wherein  he  had  erred, 
and  to  seek  "  the  gold  that  is  tried  in  the  lire."  "  I  hope 
you  will  speak  well  of  me  when  I  am  gone,'*  he  said; 
"and  regard  my  last  acts  as  the  work  of  the  Fiend."  He 
spoke  commendably  of  Mr.  Lockwood,  the  Presbytefvan 
minister,  and  declared  the  last  sermon  he  listened  to  a  most 
impressive  one.  He  spoke  of  friends  he  once  knew  and 
loved,  and  lamented  that  he  had  done  the  deed. 

He  lingered  until  the  evening  of  the  30th,  when  his  spirit 
abdicated  its  home  of  clay,  and  Samuel  Smith  was  num- 
bered among  the  gone. 

No  doubt  he  is  singing  the  songs  he  loved  to  sing  when  on 
earth,  and  sounding  praises  with  those  that  passed  over  be- 
fore him. 


XV. 
EDWARD  HOMAN. 

AS    A   NEIGHBOR   AND   FRIEND — PUBLIC    AND   PRIVATE. 

\ 

This  gentleman  was  born  in  Yaphank,  Dec.  22, 1820.  He 
married  a  Miss  Mary  Snowden  in  1859,  a  lady  then  living 
in  the  family  of  Nathaniel  Tnthill,  of  Y- 

AS   A    NEIGHBOR   AND   FRIEND — PUBLIC    AND   PRIVATE. 

Mr.  Homan  is  a  quiet,  unloquacious  man  ;  fond  of  re- 
tirement and  his  farm.  He  is  regarded  as  a  gentleman  of 
unblemished  principle  and  honor.  What  "Uncle  Ed." 
says  is  never  doubted.  He  is  a  man  that  always  appears 
happy,  and  on  good  terms  with  himself  and  the  .world  ;  but 
few  are  aware  of  the  clouds  that  sometimes  shut  out  the 
cheering  rays. 

He  has  a  sister  that  for  many  long  years  has  been  a  bed- 
ridden sufferer,  and  a  burden  to  him.  Hundreds  of  hard- 
earned  dollars  have  poured  into  physicians'  coffers  for  dear 
and  apparently  valueless  advice  and  attention. 

Mr.  Homan  is  an  "  old  school "  gentleman — one  of  those 
paragons  of  solidity  and  uprightness.  He  received  a  clean 
record  from  his  father,  and  will  hand  one  down  to  his  chil- 
dren. 

His  father,  Thomas  Homan,  reared  a  numerous  family, 
and  Edward' s  brothers  and  sisters  are  scattered  far  and  near 
over  the  land.  He  is  the  sixth  or  seventh  child  of  a  family 
of  four  sons  and  six  daughters.  Edward  was  the  drone  ; 
remained  at  home  and  u  took  care  of  the  old  folks."  He- 
inherited  the  "  old  farm,"  together  with  the  consolations  of 


YAPHANK    AS    IT    IS.  81 

health  and  an  iron  constitution,  and  an  invalid  sister  to 
support.  He  never  murmurs,  but  plods  steadily  along, 
surmounting  intervening  obstructions  patiently. 

Mr.  Homan  possesses  a  fertile  farm,  with  considerable 
wood-land;  and  is  reputed  to  be  in  " comfortable  circum- 
stances." 

He  has  but  two  children — a  son  and  daughter.  The 
former,  like  Joseph,  is  a  ''son  of  old  age." 

Mr.  Homan  depicts  the  scenes  of  his  childhood  with  un- 
feigned pleasure,  delights  to  recall  the  names  of  those  that 
have  faded  in  the  past.  He  smiles  as  he  greets  those  long 
absent,  who  were  young  with  himself;  and  silently  mourns 
as  the  faces  of  those  he  knew  and  loved  in  boyhood,  fade 
from  view. 

His  vociferousness  never  will  make  him  popular  or  ex- 
ceedingly ill-famous  ;  nor  will  his  impetuosity  make  him  a 
man  to  be  feared.  He  appreciates 'oratory  and  eloquence 
equally  as  enthusiastically  as  E.  L.  G-erard,  and  would  be 
about  as  successful  an  orator  or  statesman. 

Nevertheless,  like  Mr.  Grerard,  his  talents  are  equal  to  his 
business  and  calling. 

At  home  he  is  an  example  for  all  fathers  and  husbands, 
and  guards  precisely  his  walks  and  talks. 

As  a  neighbor,  he  is  cherished  for  his  accommodating 
and  honorable  disposition.    His  virtues  are  not  philanthrop 
ically  or  patriotically  conspicuous,  but  appear  in  a  more 
laudable  direction  than  if  remarkable  for  public  spirit. 


XVI. 
DOC.    JAMES  I.  BAKER. 

PERSONAL — HIS  EARLY  LIFE — TRIALS    AND   TRIUMPHS— 
A  NEIGHBOR,  FRIEND  AND  FARMER. 

In  this  connection  I  will  introduce  Doc.  James  Irvin 
Baker,  a  very  popular  gentleman  and  physician. 

PERSONAL. 

Doc.  Baker  was  born  in  1829.  He  is  forty -five  years  old, 
and  live  feet  ten  inches  in  height,  tall  and  gracefully  pro- 
portioned. 

He  studied  and  graduated  in  1851  at  the  Albany  Medical 
College.  It  may  be  added  that  his  medical  career  has 
proved  an  enviable  success,  and  an  honor  to  that  institu- 
tion. 

Few  medical  practitioners  are  more  familiarly  acquainted 
with  the  diverse  changes  and  hardships  that  must  harmon- 
ize, in  the  much-abused,  and,  sometimes,  unappreciated 
art  of  successful  medical  practice,  than  Doc.  James  Baker  ; 
and  the  number  is  still  less  who  can  gaze  calmly  back  over 
twenty  years  of  daily  experience,  and  view  a  cloudless  sky 
at  the  lapse  of  that  period,  a  sky  unclouded  by  the  abuse 
that  physicians,  as  a  class,  are  compelled  to  eat  with  their 
porridge  and  blend  with  their  pills. 

When  Doc.  Baker  settled  in  Yaphank,  in  1860,  he  was 
unknown — save  by  family  relations — on  Long  Island.  As 
is  common  with  nearly  every  young  physician's  practical 
beginning,  there  are  many  fears  to  allay  and  doubts  to 


YAPHANK    AS   IT  TS. 

appease,  before  the  public  will  place  confidence  and  faith  in 
newly -introduced  talent. 

Doc.  Baker  met  with  many  obstacles ;  but  he  sur- 
mounted all,  and  soon  gained  a  firm  footing  by  his  acknowl- 
edged skill  and  judgment.  Professional  prejudice  naturally 
arose,  and  many  schemes  were  hatched  to  crush  the  "young 
usurper."  But  he  eluded  the  intrigues,  stood  firmly  at  the 
wheel,  and  eventually  sailed  into  an  "open  sea." 

He  is  every  way  qualified  for  his  calling.  He  has  talent, 
nerve  and  skill.  He  forms  a  prognosis  quickly  and  accu- 
rately, and  is  seldom  misguided  by  existing  prognostics. 
A  diagnosis,  by  James  Baker,  is  generally  satisfactorily 
received  by  the  profession  and  the  public. 

HIS    EARLY   LIFE— TRIALS   AND   TRIUMPHS. 

When  sixteen  years  old  he  began  teaching  school  and 
studying  medicine.  The  latter  he  pursued,  in  connection 
with  teaching,  a  portion  of  his  time,  living  with  his  precep- 
tor and  aiding  him  in  his  practice  during  the  time. 

In  1849  he  was  matriculated  into  the  University  of  the 
New  York  Medical  Department,  where  he  remained  until 
March,  1850,  when  he  entered  the  Albany  Medical  College  ; 
an  institution  he  considered  preferable  for  rapid  and  thor- 
ough advancement. 

He  graduated  when  but  twenty-two  years  old,  and  imme- 
diately began  business.  Owing  to  hard  work,  exposure,  etc., 
his  health  grew  precarious,  and  he  suffered  repeated  attacks 
of  bleeding  from  the  lungs.  He  grew  more  and  more 
physically  miserable,  and,  in  1860,  determined  to  abandon 
his  profession.  In  accordance  with  his  resolve,  he  disposed 
of  his  home,  drug  store,  etc.,  and  visited  Long  Island. 

His  health  rapidly  improved,  and  he  again  entered  into 
his  arduous  duties.  His  pulmonary  affliction  vanished, 
and  he  became  a  hale  and  hearty  man  ;  another  verifica- 
tion that  this  is  one  of  the  healthiest  sections  in  the  wide, 
wide  world. 


84  YAPHANK    AS   IT   IS. 

The  incidents  and  events  coherent  witli  his  professional 
life  are  similar  to  those  which  must  universally  happen  to 
all  physicians  engaged  in  a  country  practice,  where  the 
oracles  of  the  dead  language  are  expected  to  be  surgeons, 
oculists,  dentists,  etc.,  etc.,  and  to  be  prepared  with  all 
medicines,  instruments,  and  the  many  mysteries  that  doc- 
tors generally  carry  about  with  them.  They  are  expected 
to  comply  with  all  calls  by  day  or  night,  rain  or  shine,  and 
to  unmurmuringly  undergo  exposures,  cares  and  anxieties. 

To  enumerate  one-quarter  of  the  many  amusing,  sad  and 
remarkable  events  attached  to  his  record  as  a  medical  prac- 
titioner, would  fill  a  small  volume. 

The  Doc.  informed  me  that  the  only  "Reminiscences  of 
a  Physician"  he  ever  perused,  and  that  ever  gained  much 
popularity,  was  published  in  London,  and  caused  much 
trouble  ;  many  persons  believing  that  it  alluded  to  them, 
notwithstanding  fictitious  names  were  used. 

The  medical  art  is  the  most  profound,  sublime  and  classi- 
cal science  extant ;  but  one  can  count  with  the  fingers  the 
names  of  men  who  have  gained  the  goal  of  medical  ambi- 
tion, and  who  stand  pre-eminent  among  the  clique. 

Quackery  is  startlingly  prevalent,  and  the  men  are  many 
who  professionally  mislead  the  unwary  and  innocent  with 
delusive  circulars,  and  ruin  soul  arid  body  with  patent 
poison.  As  long  as  people  patronize  these  dabblers  in  life, 
and  disregard  the  warnings  and  advice  of  family  physicians, 
so  long  will  a  dubious  cloud  hover  over  this  great  science, 
and  a  deteriorating  effect  be  seen. 

A   NEIGHBOR,    FRIEND   AND    FARMER. 

To  please  "everybody"  is  an  art  few  have  acquired  ;  and 
to  please  one's  self  and  "everybody  else,"  is  accomplished 
by  still  less.  Doc.  James  Baker  is  one  of  those  rare 
paragons  of  pleasantry.  He  is  determined  to  please,  to  be 
agreeable  and  mirthful. 


YAPHANK   AS   IT  IS.  85 

No  one  ever  interviewed  or  whiled  an  evening  with  Doc. 
Baker,  without  becoming  captivated  with  his  pleasantry 
and  humor. 

He  is  always  accostable  and  courteous,  and  be  the  sun 
in  the  East  or  down  in  the  West,  he  always  greets  with  a 
smile. 

He  is  a  member  of  the  Yaphank  Presbyterian  Church, 
and  has  held  many  offices  of  trust  and  responsibility  in  the 
parish  and  town. 

Doc.  Baker  is  an  interesting  companion,  a  pleasant 
neighbor,  and  a  staunch  friend. 

He  is,  certainly,  a  "self-made"  man,  and  his  practice  and 
wealth  were  secured  by  personal  exertions.  His  success  is 
a  guarantee  that  "  where  there's  a  will  there's  a  way." 


XVII. 
MORDECAI  HOMAN. 

OFF   FOR    THE     MINES — ADVENTURES   IN   CALIFORNIA — SUC- 
CESS  AND   FAILURE — ON  THE  SEA   AND   LAND. 

Mordecai  Homan  was  born  in  Yaphank,  December  17th, 
1825. 

Probably  no  man  that  ever  lived  in  Yaphank,  or  lives 
here  at  the  present  day,  possesses  a  wider  practical  know- 
ledge of  the  world,  than  the  subject  of  this  chapter. 

He  has  circumnavigated  the  globe  many  times,  and  has 
experienced  the  frozen  excitement  furnished  by  the  whale 
fisheries  in  the  bleak  Arctic.  He  has  seen  London  in  its 
glory,  and  Paris  in  its  beauty  ;  is  acquainted  with  the  ups 
and  downs  of  mining  life,  and  familiar  with  the  wild  scenes 
in  Australian  mines  and  jungles. 

He  visited  California  during  the  gold  excitement,  when 
the  country  swarmed  with  desperate  men  and  loose  charac- 
ters of  all  sorts,  nations  and  color  ;  when  muidering,  i eb- 
bing, fighting,  and  gambling  was  the  universal  pastime,  and 
mining  the  occupation.  He  has  met  desperate  men  on  the 
sea  and  on  the  land,  and  mingled  with  murderers,  counter- 
feiters, forgers,  and  villainous  people  of  all  nations  ;  with 
some  of  the  most  depraved  characters  that  ever  sailed  the 
seas  or  stalked  the  land.  Not  by  taste  or  preference  did  he 
associate  with  villains  and  hardened  men,  but  as  a  natural 
consequence  of  an  adventurous  life. 

When  whaling  was  a  remunerative  business  he  made  a 
number  of  voyages  to  the  frozen  North  ;  but  the  fever  soon 
subsided,  and  his  roving  disposition  allured  him  into  newer 
fields  of  adventure. 


YAPHANK   AS   IT  IS.  87 

When  but  seventeen  years  old  he  sailed  for  the  icy  seas  ; 
but  later  in  life  we  see  him 

OFF  FOR  THE   MINES. 

In  1849  he  joined  a  stock  company,  which  purchased  the 
bark  ship  Galindo,  and  sailed  for  San  Francisco.  Arriving 
there,  the  company  disposed  of  the  ship  and  dispersed  for 
the  mines. 

Mordecai  labored  in  the  mountains  a  number  of  years, 
when  he  was  stricken  down  with  the  small-pox  in  a  most 
malignant  form. 

He  was  alone  in  a  half-barbarous  country,  prostrated  by 
a  deadly  disease,  and  surrounded  by  cut-throats  and  bad 
men  ;  but  hope  never  forsook  him,  and  an  iron  constitution 
bore  him  through  his  terrible  ordeal. 

He  arose  from  his  couch  of  misery  emaciated  and  feeble  : 
but  kind  hands  and  kinder  hearts  came  to  his  succor,  and 
his  wasted  form  grew  robust  and  strong.  After  his  illness, 
being  unable  to  immediately  enter  the  mines  in  consequence 
of  physical  prostration,  he  "kept"  store  for  the  miners, 
&c.,  after  which  he  sailed  for  Australia.  There  he  worked 
in  the  vein  a  period,  going  all  through  the  Australian  mines, 
and  remaining  there  about  eleven  months,  when  he  sailed 
down  the  coast  of  Chili*  to  Valparaiso.  There  he  again 
shipped  in  the  clipper  ship  Mischief,  and  set  sail  for  China. 

The  ship  touched  at  San  Francisco,  where  Mordecai  met 
an  old  friend  and  was  induced  to  again  enter  the  mines. 

ADVENTURES   IN   CALIFORNIA — SUCCESS  AND   FAILURE. 

Again  he  swung  the  pick  and  blasted  for  gold.  He  suf- 
fered many  hardships  and  exposures ;  indeed,  more  than 
usually  fell  to  his  hardy  companions. 

By  his  efforts  he  had  amassed  a  snug  little  fortune,  and 
began  packing  his  provisions  and  effects  from  the  moun- 
tains toward  Trinidad.  He  had  packed  and  remained  in  an 
Indian  encampment  one  night.  The  Indians  appeared 


88  YAPHANK    AS   IT    is. 

friendly,  and  gave  him  much  salmon  and  other  tokens  of 
friendship.  The  encampment  was  composed  of  fifteen 
hundred  warriors,  who,  a  few  days  after,  gathered  in  coun- 
cils of  war. 

Mordecai  saw  that  an  ominous  cloud  was  gathering  along 
the  frontier,  and,  combined  with  the  influences  and  opin- 
ions of  prominent  leaders,  the  company  immediately  started 
down  the  coast  toward  Trinidad. 

On  the  march  they  came  upon  and  determined  to  encamp 
near  rich  diggings,  although  opposed  by  those  who  were 
aware  of  the  intended  Indian  revolution  and  declaration  of 
war. 

He  left  his  three  partners  at  the  camp.  They  expected  to 
bury  their  gold  dust,  provisions,  &c..  and  then  follow  to 
the  mines. 

Mordecai  was  then  prospecting  with  others,  when  a 
friendly  Indian  arrived  and  reported  that  the  camp  had 
been  attacked,  and  "  all  hands  killed  and  robbed."  Their 
arrival  at  the  camp  verified  the  sad  news.  The  Indians  had 
surprised  the  camp  and  butchered  and  robbed  all. 

Mordecai  not  only  was  afflicted  by  the  murdering  of  his 
partners,  but  lost  seventy-five  hundred  dollars  in  gold  dust, 
seven  pack  mules,  and  fifteen  hundred  pounds  of  provi- 
sions. 

Two  of  his  partners  were  killed  outright,  while  the  third 
—wounded  and  dying — had  dragged  his  mutilated  body 
into  concealment. 

He  was  rescued,  but  died  soon  after.  The  miners  then 
consolidated  and  moved  directly  toward  Trinidad.  They 
met  a  body  of  soldiers  on  the  march  up  the  mountains,  who 
were  sent  to  their  aid  simultaneously  with  the  first  war- 
whoop. 

Mordecai  arid  many  other  miners  entered  the  ranks,  and 
returned  to  fight  the  dusky  foe. 

The  incidents  connected  with  his  participation  in  the  In- 
dian war  •  are  to  numerous  to  record.  He  assisted  in  de- 
molishing  Indian  villages,  destroying  their  crops,  &c.,  and 


YAPHANK    AS   IT   IS.  89 

then  returned  with  the  band  to  Trinidad,  and  thence  to  San 
Francisco. 

In  1856  he  sailed  for  his  Island  home,  having  passed  seven 
years  in  the  wilds  of  California  and  Australia  ;  meeting 
success  and  failure,  sickness  and  exposure  ;  and  passing 
through  adventures  and  escapes  that  would  fill  a  volume  of 
thrilling  events. 

PERSONAL. 

Mr.  Homan  is  about  forty-nine  years  old — crippled  and 
prematurely  broken  down.  His  memory  is  rich  in  reminis- 
cences of  travel  and  adventure,  which  makes  him  an  inter- 
esting conversationist.  He  is  not  egotistical,  and  is  seldom 
the  "hero"  of  hair-breadth  escapes  and  bloody  encoun- 
ters. He  is  a  thorough  sailor  and  a  superior  navigator. 
His  heart  and  kingdom  are  upon  the  "deep  bhie,"  and 
his  love  for  excitement  grows  more  enthusiastic  as  he  sails 
down  the  tide  of  life.  He  probably  will  leave  his  boots  at 
sea. 

He  is  decidedly  abrupt  and  unceremonious  in  his  speech  ; 
but  "if  he  stumbles  with  his  tongue,  it  is  the  head  that's 
wrong,  and  not  the  heart  that  goes  astray." 


EDWARD   HENRY   S.    HOLDEN,  M.  D. 


XVIII. 
EDWARD  HENRY  S.  HOLDEN,  L.  M.,   M.  MS.,  N.  Y. 

JUS    MORAL    AND     SCIENTIFIC     WORTH — HIS      RECOMMENDA- 
TION— A   REVIEW. 

HIS  MORAL  AND  SCIENTIFIC  WORTH. 

I  lament  that  I  cannot  grant  the  space  and  time  to  this 
sketch  of  a  truly  learned  and  popular  gentleman  and  phy- 
sician, that  his  worth  and  acquirements  certainly  deserve. 

To  say  that  Dr.  Edward  Holden  is  a  true  gentleman  and 
scholar,  would  be  to  reiterate  the  oft-repeated  declarations 
of  his  admirers  and  patrons.  Not  only  a  physician  by 
title,  but  virtually  a  successful,  gifted  and  thorough  M.  D. 
The  great  men  of  his  profession  in  England  and  America, 
feel  proud  in  ranking  him  a  peer.  In  the  halls  of  learning 
in  the  City  of  New  York — everywhere  where  doctors  of 
high  standing  are  wont  to  assemble — -Dr.  Holden  is  gladly 
welcomed  and  appreciated  for  his  profound  learning.  His 
most  intimate  relations  with  such  eminent  members  of  the 
fraternity  as  James  R.  Wood,  Lewis  A.  Say  re,  Willard 
Parker,  and  William  Detmold,  and  many  others  of  the 
first  rank,  is  an  unquestionable  passport. 

But  he  relies  not  upon  his  high  standing  among  the  great 
men  of  his  profession  to  advance  his  success  and  public 
favor,  for,  I  can  say  with  authority,  that  no  physician  on 
Long  Island — outside  of  Brooklyn — is  better  qualified  as  a 
doctor  of  medicine  than  Edward  H.  S.  Holden. 

HIS    RECOMMENDATION. 

He  came  not  to  underrate,  disparage,  or  depreciate 
others,  to  establish  himself  in  the  good  graces  of  the  pub- 


94  YAPHANK   AS   IT   18. 

lie  ;  but  with  the  bright  laurels  of  his  public  examination 
still  blooming,  and  the  voices  of  his  English  admirers  and 
classical  collegiates  bidding  him  God  speed  to  the  free 
shores  of  the  New  World,  where  honor  and  emolument 
awaited  him. 

How  proud  am  I,  tiiat  to  me  was  accorded  the  honor  of 
penning  this  miniature  sketch  of  a  truly  talented,  but  not 
sufficiently  appreciated  scholar.  Dr.  Holden  is  the  author 
of  many  beautiful  sentiments  in  prose  and  verse,  and  the 
varied  culture  of  his  mind  is  illustrated  by  the  diversified 
talents  of  the  men  he  once  loved  to  gather  around  him. 
His  nature  is  true  and  sympathetic,  but  untinged  by  any 
sickliness  of  taste.  He  is  a  critical,  dispassionate  commen- 
tator on  the  great  questions  of  the  day,  with  a  mind  that 
cannot  be  shaken  b}^  political  storms.  How  common  place 
and  dim  the  brilliancy  of  preceding  chapters  appear,  when 
I  consider  the  contents  before  me. 

A  REVIEW. 

Edward  Henry  S.  Holden  was  born  in  Birmingham,  War- 
wick Co.,  England,  on  the  9th  day  of  April,  1801.  His  parents 
were  Richard  and  Ann  S.  Holden.  He  is  five  feet  and  two 
inches  in  height,  slight  in  build,  and  almost  feminine  in  his 
physical  development. 

Three  score  years  and  ten  have  sprinkled  his  hair  with  the 
silvery  emblems  of  old  age,  and  his  stooping  form  predicts 
a  sure  decline  of  the  physical  man. 

In  imagination  we  will  tread  back  through  the  hazy  past 
of  seventy  years,  in  England,  and  dwell  over  the  events  of 
his  boyhood. 

His  fourth  to  seventh  years  were  passed  at  boarding 
school  in  his  native  county,  in  the  acquisition  of  the  arts  of 
spelling,  reading  and  English  grammar. 

On  the  completion  of  his  seventh  year,  his  uncle  being 
one  of  the  governors  of  Christ's  Hospital,  London,  he  en- 
tered the  classical  department,  under  the  Rev.  Drs.  Arthur 


YAPHANK   AS   IT  IS.  95 

W.  Trollope  and  F.  W.  Franklin,  where  he  pursued  the  study 
of  the  Latin  and  Greek  languages,  with  a  view  to  the  clerical 
profession,  but,  on  the  completion  of  his  fifteenth  year,  be- 
ing dissuaded,  he  abandoned  the  intention  of  studying  The- 
ology, and  left  the  institution. 

After  some  months'  deliberation,  he  eagerly  resolved  to 
adopt  the  profession  of  medicine,  for  which  purpose  he 
went  to  Bath,  and  began  his  studies  under  the  tuition  of 
Surgeon  Walker,  a  former  pupil  of  Surgeon  Baynton. 

He  there  enjoyed  the  most  cordial  friendship  of  the 
highly  accomplished  scholar  and  judicious  physician,  Doc. 
Caleb  Hillier  Parry,  to  whose  scientific  attainments  he  is 
indebted  for  much  information,  both  of  a  medical  and  liter- 
ary character. 

Before  the  expiration  of  his  second  pupilage  year,  he  had 
formed  an  attachment  for  a  young  lady,  whose  parents  were 
desirous  of  breaking  off  the  growing  affection  because  of 
her  extreme  youth. 

Young  Holden  deferred  the  study  of  medicine  for  a  sea- 
son, and  returned  to  London,  where  his  father  then  resided, 
and  engaged  in  the  counting-house  of  an  eminent  commer- 
cial firm  until  the  close  of  the  year  1821.  On  the  25th  day 
of  February,  1822,  banns  having  been  previously  published 
in  due  form,  he  was  married  by  Rev.  J.  W.  Bellamy,  D.  D., 
at  St.  Mary's  Abb.  Church,  to  Ann  Margaret  Gladstone, 
granddaughter  of  Sir  John  Gladstone,  formerly  of  New- 
castle, England,  and  sailed  from  London  at  the  end  of  May 
in  the  same  year,  in  the  ship  Acasta,  of  the  Griswold  line, 
bound  for  New  York,  where  they  arrived  on  Saturday, 
July  13th. 

The  yellow  fever  appeared  very  soon  after  his  arrival  in 
the  great  metropolis  of  the  New  World,  which,  causing  an 
interruption  to  business,  made  it  imprudent  to  engage  in 
any  permanent  occupation. 

The  following  year  he  opened  a  drug  store,  which  he 
steadily  attended  till  the  month  of  March,  1826,  when  he 
resumed  his  favorite  study,  by  entering  the  office  of  Doc. 


96  YAPHANK   AS  IT   IS. 

Alexander  H.  Stevens,  Professor  of  Surgery  in  the  old  Col- 
lege of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  in  Barclay  street,  at  which 
college  he  matriculated,  and  attended  the  lectures  of  all  the 
professors  during  1828  and  1829. 

In  the  Spring  of  1830  he  presented  himself  before  the 
President  and  Censors  of  the  Medical  Society  for  examina- 
tion. 

Those  gentlemen,  to  testify  their  appreciation  of  the 
promptness  and  correctness  of  his  replies  to  every  question 
propounded  to  him,  proposed  to  honor  him  by  a  public  ex- 
amination in  the  hall  of  the  college,  to  which  he  readily  as- 
sented. Thus,  on  the  15th  of  February,  1830— date  of 
his  diploma — Doc.  Holden  verified,  to  the  satisfaction  of 
all,  his  profound  and  extensive  learning,  and  the  remark- 
able adaptability  of  his  genius  to  the  great  science,  of 
which  he  is  an  honorable  and  superior  representative.  He 
was  then  admitted  as  a  member  of  the  Medical  Society  of 
the  City  and  County  of  New  York,  in  1832. 

After  practising  in  New  York  City  (with  the  exception  of 
two  years — one  in  Washingtonville,  Orange  County,  and 
one  in  Troy) — from  1830  to  1850,  he  moved  to  Holbrook, 
L.  I.,  where  he  remained  three  years.  He  then  moved  to 
Middle  Island,  remaining  there  until  May,  1858,  when  he 
moved  to  the  Manor  ;  from  which  place  he  moved — Novem- 
ber of  the  same  year — to  Bast  Moriches.  There  he  lived 
until  November,  1859,  at  which  period  he  moved  to  Yap- 
hank,  where  he>till  resides. 

His  wife — now  in  her  eighty-third  year  -was  afflicted,  be- 
tween two  and  three  years  ago,  with  a  severe  and  danger- 
ous illness  of  six  weeks'  duration,  which  left  her  in  so  de- 
bilitated a  condition  that  she  has  never  regained  her  previ- 
ous degree  of  health. 

Of  a  family  composed  of  three  sons  and  two  daughters, 
onlv  one  survives,  the  Rev.  Robert  Holden,  an  Episcopal 
clergyman,  and  Rector  of  Trinity  School,  New  York  City. 

Doctor  Holden  may  well  feel  proud  of  such  a  noble  son. 
The  old  gentleman  has  not  long  to  gaze  upon  the  bright 


YAPHANK    AS   IT   IS.  97 

things  of  this  land,  for  weight  of  years  is  bearing  him  down, 
and  the  smiles  of  the  genial  old  man  must  soon  fade  ;  but 
how  sweet  will  be  the  consolation  of  his  declining  years,  to 
know  that  when  he  is  summoned  to  go,  and  the  implacable 
sword  of  death  shall  sever  the  brittle  band  that  holds  to  this 
vale  of  tears,  his  name  will  still  be  borne ;  aye,  borne  up- 
ward to  honor  and  distinction  in  the  estimation  of  his  fellow- 
men. 

The  pillow  of  death  will  be  softened,  and  the  agonies  al- 
layed, by  the  sweet  voice  of  a  tranquil  conscience. 

Tranquil,  because  his  palmy  days  are  o'er,  and  no  cloud 
bedims  their  glory ;  peaceful,  because  he  ever  drank  the 
gall  himself,  and  gave  the  sweetened  honey.  No  thorns 
will  be  gathered  with  his  harvest  of  roses,  and  no  troubled 
conscience  will  mar  the  long,  long  sleep. 

Soon  the  bitter  words  of  foes  will  be  forgotten,  and  the 
taunts  of  enemies  will  cease  over  the  grave.  With  me,  the 
little  world  of  Yaphank  will  ever  speak  with  reverence  of 
the  man  who  was  too  good  to  be  rich,  too  great  to  be  in  au- 
thority, and  too  learned  to  be  fully  appreciated. 


XIX. 

NATHANIEL  TUTHILL. 
MR.  TUTHILL'S  BUSINESS — HIS  BENEVOLENCE. 

Nathaniel  Tuthill  was  born  at  West  Wading  River, 
Brookhaven  Town,  January  22,  1797. 

He  is  the  fourth  child  and  second  son  of  Nathaniel  and 
Elizabeth  Tuthill.  His  mother's  maiden  name  was  Skid- 
more.  She  was  an  ambitious  woman,  and  inculcated  upon 
Nathaniel's  mind  much  that  has  been  of  service  to  him. 

From  his  boyhood  everything  was  regarded  secondary 
by  Nathaniel,  but  money.  When  a  lad  he  would  play  tru- 
ant from  the  district  school  to  earn  a  few  dimes  by  doing 
chores  and  cutting  wood  in  the  forests  that  surrounded  his 
early  home.  Those  principles  became  habitual,  and  were 
indelibly  stamped  upon  his  mind,  and  he  grew  to  be  a 
man  with  the  determination  to  be  rich. 

He  worked  upon  his  father's  farm  until  twenty-two  years 
old  ;  he  then  went  to  what  is  now  Baiting  Hollow.  There 
he  and  his  brother  Benjamin  labored  ;  they  inherited  a  fer- 
tile farm,  and  the  well-known  Conumgum  Mills. 

In  the  Spring  of  the  year  1819  he  exchanged  the  farm 
with  his  brother  for  the  old  mills,  and  by  the  operation 
made  one  thousand  dollars. 

During  the  same  year  he  sold  part  of  the  mills  to  John 
Buckingham,  and  the  remaining  portion  to  Richard  Tuthill, 
his  cousin,  in  1820. 

During  the  Summer  of  1820  he  wandered  about,  like  Mr. 
Micawber,  "waiting  for  something  to  turn  up."  The  busi- 
ness "turn  up"  was  not  accommodatingly  profitable,  and 


YAPHANK   AS   IT   18.  99 

he  returned  to  Baiting  Hollow  in  that  Fall  and  purchased 
back  the  farm  from  his  brother. 

As  usual,  he  made  money  by  the  operation,  and  as  in 
business,  so  in  love,  he  was  remarkably  successful. 

He  married  in  the  year  1828,  and  came  to  live  and  die  in 
Yaphank. 

Mr.  Tuthill  is  about  seventy -seven  years  old,  above  mid- 
dle height,  and  a  good  type  of  the  solid  old  men  of  his 
time. 

He  has  the  large  bone  and  rather  loosely-knit  frame  of  the 
Long  Island  farmer.  A  narrow,  small,  but  intellectual  face, 
refined  away  from  its  ruggeder  prototype,  and  that  cleanly 
shaven  face  and  powerful  frame  peculiar  to  that  class  of 
men  who  believe  in  race  and  brawn.  He  is  a  rapid  talker, 
and  one  that  comprehends  the  mighty  power  of  words. 

There  is  no  idealism  in  Mr.  Tuthill  ;  and  no  poetical  or 
romantic  sentiment  ever  reflected  in  his  composition. 

He  may  see  the  blue  sky,  the  majestic  mountain,  the 
flashing  cascade,  the  tender  flower  blooming  upon  the  in- 
hospitable hillside,  but  he  strives  not  to  fathom  the  great 
and  mysterious-  lesson  they  teach.  He  will  perceive  more 
beauty  in  a  gold  dollar,  or  a  fine  herd  of  cattle,  than  can  be 
reflected  from  all  the  tender  flowers  and  flashing  cascades 
in  Christendom. 

Mr.  Tuthill  is  an  old  man,  and  the  sands  of  Ms  eventful 
life  are  fast  running  out.  It  would  not  be  startling  if  it 
were  soon  said  that  he  were  dead. 

His  wealth  is  signally  identified  with  his  life,  but  may 
the  gold  that  is  tried  in  the  fire  be  identified  with  his 
death ! 

He  is  reputed  to  be  worth  nearly  seventy -five  thousand. 

Years  of  practical  experience  with  the  world  have  sharp- 
ened his  shrewd,  keen  intellect,  and  made  him  a  wealthy 
man. 

He  is  a  bland,  pleasing  man,  seldom  losing  that  aggra- 
vating equilibrium  of  mind  and  purpose  that  make  men 
successful  in  the  trafficking  world. 


100  YAPHANK   AS  IT   IS. 

While  others  are  plunged  into  chaos,  he  retains  a  stolid 
indifference.  Soft  words  of  honeyed  sweetness  fall  from 
his  well-oiled  tongue,  thus  paving  a  facile  entrance  into  all 
hearts. 

If  a  man  has  a  bargain  to  give  away  he  knows  he  can 
find  a  "taker"  in  Nat.  Tuthill.  Men  who  are  "cramped" 
in  business,  and  want  money,  and  who  are  willing  to  grant 
a  liberal  bonus,  interview  Mr.  Tuthill. 

He  is  a  far-seeing  business  man.  He  knows  that  men 
enter  into  undertakings  that  are  too  much  for  them.  He 
watches  their  movements,  he  marks  the  rocks  in  the  channel, 
and  when  the  crisis  comes  he  blandly  offers  aid. 

Bankruptcy,  disgrace  and  abuse  loom  up  before  their 
bright  dreams  ;  they  accept  his  proffered  kindness,  and  are 
fast  within  his  toils. 

A  young  man  just  launching  his  frail  bark  in  life  re- 
ceives little  encouragement  from  Nat.  Tuthill.  He  points 
to  his  own  record,  and  smilingly  advises  "  To  root  or  die.11 
He  little  thinks  that  deep  down  in  some  hearts  is  written 
the  secret  of  his  success.  Men  look  upon  his  hoary  head 
and  bent  form  and  exclaim,  "  There  goes  the  shrewdest  man 
in  Brookhaven  Town."  It  is  music  in  his  ears  ;  he  delights 
to  be  known  as  cunning  in  trade,  and  as  "  a  rich  man." 

He  has  confidence  in  his  own  ability.  In  his  own  lan- 
guage, he  "lays  his  plans,  and  makes  them  work." 

Those  who  deal  with  him  seldom  request  a  compromise. 
His  ways  are  not  obvious,  and  a  mist  hovers  over  his  whole 
life. 

A  gentleman  soliciting  alms  for  a  religious  purpose  came 
to  Mr.  Tuthill  for  aid.  He  subscribed  twenty-five  cents, 
and  a  laborer  in  his  employ  gave  one  dollar.  Twenty  -five 
cents  is,  apparently,  his  fixed  charitable  donation. 

Nat.  Tuthill  is  the  poorest  rich  man  in  Yaphank.  If  he 
creates  odium  by  his  actions,  he  smiles  upon  the  wound, 
and  vanishes  hatred  by  odoriferous  words. 

Everywhere  he  is  regarded  as  the  same  comprehensive 
and  penetrating  man  ;  possessing  astute  and  sagacious 
judgment. 


YAPHANK   AS   IT  18.  101 

During  the  religious  revival  of  February,  1870,  Mr.  lut- 
hill  became  deeply  impressed.  He  bowed  before  the  altar 
among  a  chaotic  crowd,  and  mingled  his  tears  with  the 
young  converts. 

April  16,  1870,  he  joined  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and 
his  sins  were  washed  away  (?)  Four  years  have  elapsed, 
and  that  great  showering  of  the  Divine  Spirit  is  still  fresh  in 
the  memory  of  our  people.  Thirty  professed  to  have  bidden 
farewell  to  the  vain  things  of  earth,  and  donned  the  robes 
of  Christianity.  Where  is  the  wheat  of  that  beautiful  har- 
vest? Why  are  the  supplications  that  rang  in '70  dying 
in  '74?  'Tis  one  of  the  unexplained  mysteries  of  Yaphank. 

MR.  TUTHILL'S  BUSINESS. 

He  has  been  a  farmer  all  his  life,  and  by  close  attention 
to  business,  has  acquired  wealth  amounting  to  many  thou- 
sand dollars.  Mr.  Tuthill  is  a  popular  veterinary  surgeon, 
and  has  made  more  money  at  that  branch  of  his  business 
than  on  his  farm. 

'"  Uncle  Nat."  is  acknowledged  authority  on  all  the  mys- 
teries pertaining  to  the  agricultural  art,  and  his  counsel  is 
eagerly  sought.  He  takes  delight  in  tine  stock,  and  reiter- 
ates with  pleasure  the  remarkable  weights  his  animals  have 
attained. 

When  he  married  his  wife  he  married  a  fine  farm  and 
considerable  property  annexed. 

In  the  old  farm-house  where  he  lives,  lived  and  died  the 
lamented  Isaac  Mills.  Mr.  Mills  was  his  father-in-law,  and 
complained  much  of  Nathaniel's  severity  to  him. 

Although  the  broad,  rich  fields  were  "Uncle  Isaac's," 
arid  although  he  reared  the  roof  above  his  head,  he  enjoyed 
little  fruit  of  his  labor.  In  the  person  of  his  son-in-law 
came  a  dictator,  and  when  his  daughter  was  led  to  the  altar 
"Uncle  Isaac's"  happiness  was  blighted  upon  the  bunch 
of  matrimonial  sweets. 

As  a  veterinary  surgeon,  Mr.  Tuthill  has  realized  some 
success,  but  any  success  at  all  grants  a  premium  to  ignor- 


102  YAPHANK   AS   IT  18. 

ance.  How  a  man  with  no  theoretical  knowledge  of  an  art, 
and  meagre  education  to  achieve  success,  practically,  can 
succeed  is  a  scientific  enigma. 

HIS  BENEVOLENCE. 

Like  his  wealthy  neighbors,  Mr.  Tuthill  is  not  public- 
spirited,  and  he  bestows  as  much  upon  religious  advance- 
ment as  upon  other  enterprises  where  his  personal  interest 
is  not  concerned. 

While  conversing  with  a  friend  he  remarked  that,  if  it 
were  possible  for  him  to  "  step  back"  thirty  years,  and  still 
retain  his  knowledge  of  money-getting,  that  he  could  rear  a 
colossal  fortune. 

How  inexorable  is  the  law  of  Nature  !  How  blessed  it  is 
that  the  rich  and  the  poor,  the  triumphant  and  the  op- 
pressed, must  all  take  equal  chances  in  the  lottery  of  life  ! 
The  rich  man  must  finally  bid  adieu  to  the  land  of  gold  and 
lie  down  as  low  as  the  plebeian.  Wealth  may  make  one 
famous,  but  ar  great  man  must  be  good.  The  emoluments 
earned  in  life  will  fade  from  the  tablet  of  memory,  but  honor 
and  principle  will  endure  forever. 

ALEXANDER  SMITH 

is  a  colored  compeer  of  Frederic  Douglas,  in  Mr.  Tuthill' s 
employ  at  the  present  writing. 

How  true  the  words  of  a  popular  writer,  "  That  in  many 
unknown  graves  lie  the  mouldering  mortality  of  men  who 
could  have  startled  the  world,  had  the  blessed  ways  and 
means  been,  proffered  them." 

How  many  great  minds  are  living  in  obscurity  to-day, 
who  require  only  the  little  accident  to  burst  open  the  bud 
of  their  latent  talents. 

How  many  men— black  and  white— have  loomed  up  amid 
the  stately  hills  of  New  England,  and  made  their  names 
way -marks  in  the  world.  How  many  sturdy  lads  have  left 
the  plow,  the  lap-stone,  and  the  anvil,  to  cross  swords  in 


YAPHANK   AS   IT  IS.  103 

martial  glory,  and  to  dictate  the  laws  of  the  land  in  their 
walks  and  talks  with  men. 

Frederick  Douglas'  youthful  attainments  were  no  more 
promising  than  the  colored  subject  of  this  sketch.  Those 
who  are  acquainted  with  the  character  I  have  the  boldness 
to  present,  will  probably  laugh  at  the  variety  of  my  com- 
position of  this  work,  but  must  acknowledge  the  moral 
superiority  of  my  subject  to  others  who  possess  whiter  ex- 
teriors. 

There  is  no  regal  road  to  fame,  and  no  royal  covering  to 
budding  greatness. 

Alexander  Smith  was  born  at  Coram,  Long  Island,  Dec. 
15th,  1849.  He  came  to  Mr.  Tuthill'  s  when  but  five  years 
old.  He  has  a  brother  and  sister  living.  There  is  not  a 
family  in  all  Yaphank  but  welcome  him  as  a  friend.  The 
people  honor  and  countenance  him  because  of  his  uncom- 
monly excellent  disposition  and  character,  Although  the 
slave  of  one  of  the  most  exacting  men  in  Brookha veil  Town, 
he  stands  upon  a  whiter  reputation  than  my  preceding 
subject. 

He  has  wonderful  inventive  faculties,  and  he  offered  to 
wager  that  he  could  properly  adjust  all  the  complicated 
and  complete  parts  of  a  steam  engine,  however  distributed. 

He  is  a  working  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and 
is  respected  everywhere  as  an  upright  and  honorable  man. 

It  is  not  presumptuous  in  predicting  for  him  a  brighter 
future  than  usually  falls  to  the  luminaries  of  his  dark  race. 


XX. 
AUGUSTUS  FLOYD,  ESQ. 

THE  DESCENDANT  OF  A  NOBLE  FAMILY — HIS  PERSONAL  AP- 
PEARANCE— HIS  ECCENTRIC  AND  RETIRED  LIFE — A  BRIEF 
SKETCH. 

Familiar  and  cherished  is  the  ancient  family  name  of 
Floyd.  From  Gen.  William  Floyd,  one  of  the  revolution- 
ary heroes,  down  to  the  present  period,  the  name  has  been 
prominently  before  the  people  of  Long  Island,  and  espe- 
cially of  Suffolk  County. 

The  Floyds  are  a  dignified  and  noble  family,  and  their 
lineage  bears  connection  with  a  proud  and  haughty  people, 
who  flourished  during  the  reign  of  the  warlike  George. 

Back,  far  back  in  the  past  of  old  England,  the  same  aris- 
tocratic blood  coursed  through  veins  of  men  whose  illus- 
trious names  have  been  swallowed  up  in  the  vortex  of  time. 

Augustus  is  a  peculiar  looking  man.  One  might  travel 
from  Maine  to  Texas  and  never  meet  a  face  that  would 
close!}'  resemble  his.  In  his  face  are  the  fading  lineaments 
of  departed  nobility.  In  the  Houses  of  Lords  and  Com- 
mons he  would  easily  appear  as  a  dignitary  who  had  passed 
from  the  excitements  of  parliamentary  life  into  the  gold 
and  silver  seclusion  of  an  English  nobleman's  retirement 

Mr.  Floyd  makes  a  confidante  of  but  few,  and  he  greets 
strangers  with  jealous  coldness.  His  connections  with  the 
outside  world  are  through  reliable  agents,  and  men  whose 
family  relationship  secure  his  confidence. 

He  was  long  an  honorable  practitioner  at  the  New  York 
bar,  and  a  conspicuous  luminary  among  his  legal  associates. 


YAPHANK   AS   IT  IS.  105 

His  chronic  deafness  forced  him  to  exchange  the  bright 
prospects  of  his  profession  for  the  quiet  sweets  of  a  village 
delitescency.  For  many  years  he  was  slightly  "hard  of 
hearing,"  but  the  disease  gradually  assumed  a  more  aggra- 
vating form,  and  finally  culminated  in  his  abandonment  of 
a  remunerative  and  popular  profession. 

Mr.  Floyd  was  born  at  Mastic,  in  this  town,  in  1795,  and 
came  to  Yaphank  in  1849. 

Mastic  is,  and  was,  the  country  home  of  some  of  the  first 
men  of  the  country.  There  Gens.  Nathaniel  Woodhull 
and  William  Floyd — prominent  in  revolutionary  time- 
erected  homes,  and  commuted  the  grim  excitements  of  the 
great  struggle  for  independence,  for  the  rustic  enjoyments 
furnished  by  the  shores  of  the  Great  South  Bay.  There 
lived  Col.  Floyd,  and  there  grew  up  around  him  a  talented 
and  successful  family.  Among  them  the  Hon.  David  G. 
Floyd,  a  brother  of  Augustus,  and  the  popular  Judge, 
John  Floyd,  another  brother. 

David  G.  Floyd  and  the  Hon.  William  Sidney  Smith,  of 
Longwood,  were  the  representatives  from  Suffold  Co.,  in 
the  Assembly,  in  1856,  and  old  Suffolk  was  never  better 
represented. 

Mr.  Floyd  lives  a  very  retired  life  in  Yapliank,  and  it  is 
seldom  that  the  footsteps  of  a  stranger  break  the  routine  of 
his  privacy. 

It  is  difficult  to  gain  any  information  from  him  regarding 
the  ups  and  downs  of  his  life,  and  his  physical  misfortune 
places  him  uncongenially  with  the  villagers. 

Men,  like  Mr.  Floyd,  who  have  figured  much  in  the  bust 
ling  world,  always  have  interesting  histories;  but,  of  all 
men,  they  are  generally  the  most  difficult  to  approach  upon 
matters  connected  with  their  lives,  and  never  endeavor  to 
conceal  their  hereditary  abhorrence  of  informing  the  public 
about  their  concerns.  Their  stolid  exteriors  veil  the  trials 
and  triumphs  of  busy  intercourse  with  the  world,  and  the 
humble  and  honored  are  ever  minus  their  experience  in  the 
field  of  enterprise. 


106  YAPHANK   AS   IT  IS. 

Richard  M.  Baylis,  in  his  elaborate  sketches  of  Suffolk 
County,  dwells  interestingly,  in  a  semi-biographical  sketch, 
upon  the  lives  of  Mr.  Floyd's  most  illustrious  progenitors. 
Indeed,  it  would  be  apprising  my  readers  of  what  they 
must  already  know,  to  say  that  Augustus  Floyd  is  highly 
connected,  and  bears  a  family  name  that  leads  limpid  and 
untarnished  to  an  ancestor  who  lived  and  died  in  the  palmy 
days  of  England' s  great  men. 

He  never  participates  in  our  village  undertakings,  never 
appears  at  public  gatherings,  and  is  seldom  seen  upon  the 
street. 

His  circle  of  acquaintances  and  friends  is  limited  to  the 
members  of  a  few  families  in  highest  standing,  and  he  con- 
verses freely  with  but  few. 

To  the' "gentle  ones"  I  would  say  that  Mr.  Floyd  has 
never  borne  Hymen's  galling  chains,  and  his  days  are 
whiled  in  "single  blessedness."  What  will  establish  him 
more  charmingly  in  their  estimation^  is  the  extent  of  his 
wealth.  What  he  is  actually  worth  I  have  not  the  author- 
ity to  declare,  and  even  a  hazarding  estimation  could  not 
be  received  as  satisfactory.  It  is  generally  known  that  his 
possessions  consist  principally  in  money  investments,  but 
it  is  as  absolutely  unknown  to  what  extent  and  where  in- 
vested. 

In  person  he  is  tall,  spare,  and  decidedly  unpreposses- 
sing. He  dresses  carelessly,  and  without  artistic  taste.  He 
walks  with  a  sweeping  gait,  looks  down  at  the  ground,  and 
pays  but  little  attention  to  what  is  transpiring  around  him. 

With  his  books  and  correspondence  he  spends  the  princi- 
pal portion  of  his  time,  and  he  sups  and  dines  when 
nature  prompts  him,  be  it  at  midnight  or  otherwise. 

He  gives  but  little  to  charity,  and  his  subscriptions  to 
local  institutions  are  seldom  marked  for  their  munificence. 

Mr.  Floyd  is  far  down  the  shady  side  of  life,  and  for 
nearly  four  score  years  has  experienced  the  alternate  clouds 
and  sunshine  which  form  the  wormwood  and  honey  of  a 
life. 


GEORGE  FRANKLIN   THOMPSON. 


XXI. 
GEORGE  FRANKLIN  THOMPSON. 

HIS   QUALIFICATIONS  AS  A  BUSINESS   MAN — A  WOKD   TO   THE 
GENTLE  ONES — HIS  DECIDED   STEPS. 

This  gentleman  was  born  in  Hempstead.  Queens  Co., 
September  19th,  1852. 

Although  but  twenty-two  years  of  age,  he  has  had  a 
liberal  experience  in  the  world,  and  has  acquired  an  accu- 
rate understanding  of  what  men  must  undergo  to  enjoy 
success. 

When  but  a  lad  lie  was  apprenticed  to  Thomas  Calister, 
of  Brushville,  Queens  Co.,  a  carriage  manufacturer,  where 
he  became  an  excellent  painter,  and  garnered  many  ideas 
of  business  life. 

Of  a  family  composed  of  eleven  children — three  of  which 
are  dead — George  is  the  eighth  child  and  third  son. 

His  parents  are  good,  substantial,  every-day  people,  and 
rejoice  in  a  family  of  stirring,  energetic  children. 

HIS  QUALIFICATIONS  AS  A  BUSINESS  MAN. 

George  has  a  ready  intellect,  and  a  quick  perception  that 
is  reliable  and  peculiarly  adapted  to  his  profession.  He  is 
attentive  and  civil  in  his  dealings  with  men,  and  "knows 
how  to  make  money."  The  public  is  a  contributor  to  his 
pocketbook,  and  he  is  determined  to  please. 

When  beginning  in  life,  he  made  the  resolutions  to  be  in- 
dustrious, and  to  never  gamble  or  drink  liquor. 

He  went  steadily  to  work  to  learn  a  trade  for  himself. 
Was  frugal,  industrious,  and  attentive.  He  has  good 


110  YAPHANK   AS   IT  IS. 

health,  good  prospects,  and  'an  inflexible  purpose  to  bear 
him  onward.  Such  a  man  need  never  fear  the  frowns  of  the 
world,  or  the  cold  billows  that  beat  and  dash  the  best. 

His  good  mother  is  a  Christian  educator  to  her  children, 
and  their  good  standing  in  the  world  is  sacred  to  her  heart. 

A  WORD  TO  THE  GENTLE  ONES. 

Mr.  Thompson  is  a  young  man,  unmarried,  with  pleasing 
manners  and  address.  Although  very  young,  he  is  a  repre- 
sentative man.  The  best  society  in  Yaphank  is  pleased  to 
welcome  him,  and  he  is  regarded  as  a  young  man  of  un- 
questionable character  and  standing,  with  a  prosperous 
future  before  him. 

As  yet.  Mr.  Thompson  is  without  the  all-important  rib, 
and  is  a  magnet  of  unusual  value.  He  is  considered  quite 
a  "ladies'  man,"  and  they  are  undeniably  earnest  in  their 
declarations  of  his  being  "  real  nice." 

He  seems  indifferent,  however,  about  the  absorbing  sub- 
ject of  matrimony,  and  is  apparently  more  enthusiastic  over 
fortunate  speculations  than  the  beauty  and  virtue  of  wo- 
men and  their  paraphernial  fixtures. 

HIS   DECIDED   STEP. 

When  Samuel  Smith  died,  his  shop  and  business  was 
idle,  and  the  ' '  stand  "  was  a  prosperous  and  much  coveted 
one.  Mr.  Thompson  saw  the  excellent  opportunity,  and 
purchased  the  shop  and  all  connected  therewith. 

He  makes  his  own  money,  minds  his  own  business,  and 
is  polite,  cheerful,  and  honorable.  People  patronize  him 
because  he  and  his  work  can  be  relied  upon.  Mr.  Smith 
gave  much  satisfaction,  but  Mr.  Thompson  gives  more. 

The  flattery  of  the  world  never  confirms  his  belief  that 
he  is  altogether  bad,  nor  does  he  heed  abuse. 

Some  of  his  happiest  hours  are  passed  with  his  gun  and 
dog.  He  is  a  splendid  marksman,  and  a  true  appreciator 
of  athletic  humanity. 


YAPHANK   AS  IT   18.  Ill 

Although  very  young,  he  is  a  representative  man.  The 
best  society  in  Yaphank  is  pleased  to  welcome  him,  and  he 
is  regarded  as  a  young  man  of  unquestionable  good  charac- 
ter, with  a  prosperous  future  before  him. 

Panics  may  shake  the  country  to  its  business  centre,  the 
reverses  may  throw  the  business  men  into  chaos,  but  there 
will  always  be  an  opportunity  for  such  as  Mr.  Thompson. 
He  keeps  his  own  counsel,  is  driving,  far-seeing  and  stir- 
ring. 

It  is  but  natural  that  one  should  picture  a  pleasing  future 
for  Mr.  Thompson.  A  loving  wife  and  a  pleasant  home  are 
the  double  portion  he  deserves. 


XXII. 
ALFRED    REID,    SR. 

AN  ORPHAN' $  STRUGGLE— BEGINS   BUSINESS — A  FINANCIAL 
CRASH — PERSONAL. 

Mr.  Reid  was  born,  June  25th,  1822. 

His  parents,  James  and  Sarah  Reid,  were  steady,  indus- 
trious people,  but  death  separated  him  from  their  kind, 
parental  attention  when  he  was  very  young. 

AN  ORPHAN'S  STRUGGLE. 

When  three  years  of  age,  he  was  deprived  of  a  kind  moth- 
er1 s  care,  and  to  his  indulgent  father  he  turned  in  his  youth- 
ful grief.  But  the  fates  were  plotting  against  him,  and  in 
October  of  1834  his  father  died. 

Without  a  cheering  word  to  buoy  his  anguished  heart,  he 
plunged  lonely  and  inexperienced  into  the  angry  sea  of  ad- 
versity and  affliction. 

But  few  stopped  to  soothe  the  orphan's  trials,  and  he 
earned,  his  bread  at  various  callings  until  the  close  of  the 
year  1835,  when  he  became  an  indentured  apprentice  to  the 
upholstering  business. 

At  that  he  served  three  years  and  a  half,  when  the  firm 
became  bankrupt  from  the  effects  of  the  great  panic  and 
business  revulsions  of  1837  ;  at  which  time  he  bought  his 
indentures  for  the  balance  of  the  term  he  was  bound  to  serve. 

Being  well  advanced  in  his  trade,  he  labored  at  journey 
work — earning  from  three  to  seven  dollars  per  day — until 
the  year  1840,  when  he  engaged  for  one  year  with  a  Mr. 
Charles  Irving,  to  take  instructions  at  the  bench  as  cabinet 
maker. 


YAPHANK   AS   IT  IS. 

i 
BEGINS   BUSINESS. 

At  the  expiration  of  that  time,  he  admitted  his  brother  as 
partner,  and  they  began  manufacturing  sofas  for  old  Tom 
Bell,  the  great  auctioneer  of  Fulton  street,  at  that  time. 

They  continued  that  branch  one  year,  when  they  opened 
a  wareroom  in  Bleecker  street,  New  York  City.  Business 
not  prospering  to  Alfred' s  satisfaction,  and  for  other  causes 
of  a  private  nature,  he  withdrew  from  the  firm. 

He  again  began  at  his  trade,  working  for  Mr.  Abial  W. 
Swift,  packing  his  work  by  contract,  and  hiring  his  own 
assistants. 

He  continued  in  Mr.  Swift' s  employ  until  that  gentleman 
sold  his  interest  to  John  Meads,  of  Albany,  when  he  en- 
gaged to  Mr.  Meads  for  two  years. 

By  that  time  he  had  accumulated  about  five  thousand 
dollars,  and  he  immediately  established  a  wholesale  furni- 
ture house  at  36  Essex  street,  in  April,  1853. 

In  1846  he  had  married  a  daughter  of  Nathaniel  H.  Van 
Winkle,  with  whom  he  has  ever  lived  happily. 

He  continued  his  business  at  36  Essex  street  until  the 
year  1857,  when  he  sold  out,  and  bought  property  at  53 
Bowery,  where  he  remained  in  the  furniture  business  until 
the  breaking  out  of  the  Great  Rebellion. 

A   FINANCIAL    CRASH. 

When  the  bombardment  of  Fort  Sumpter  began,  Mr. 
Reid  left  his  elegant  home  in  the  morning,  a  wealthy  man, 
and  came  back  at  night  penniless.  Over  sixty  thousand 
dollars  he  lost  in  the  period  of  twenty-four  hours.  War 
severed  all  concurrent  or  reciprocal  action  with  his  debtors 
in  the  South,  and  to  this  day  he  has  not  received  the  small- 
est percentage  of  his  dues. 

He  groaned  under  the  cruel  load  for  a  short  time,  but  at 
last  tottered  and  fell  ;  went  down  again  to  his  small  begin- 
ning ;  went  down  as  many  strong  men  have  gone,  without 
hope  of  recovery. 


114  YAPHANK   AS   IT  IS. 

He  returned  to  his  trade  as  a  journeyman,  exchanged 
his  colossal  home  and  beautiful  furniture,  in  a  fashionable 
part  of  the  city,  for  a  humble  home  and  humble  fare  in 
Tremont,  Westchester  County. 

That  house  he  soon  exchanged  for  his  pleasant  home  in 
Yaphank,  where  he  now  resides. 

Reverses  came  upon  Mr.  Reid  like  thunderbolts  from  a 
cloudless  sky.  His  health  grew  precarious,  and  life  be- 
came blacker  and  blacker  to  him.  A  fortune  lost  in  a  day  ! 
A  home  among  the  elite  to-day,  and  a  humble  cottage  out 
of  town  to-morrow,  all  are  features  of  business  reverses  in 
New  York. 

PERSONAL. 

Trouble  and  ill-health  have  broken  him  down ;  his  hair 
is  grey,  his  constitution  shattered,  and  his  cheerful  laughter 
seldom  heard. 

He  is  a  superior  conversationalist,  and  always  has  a 
pleasing  fund  of  anecdote,  humor  and  intercourse  with  the 
busy  world. 


JAMES   HUQGINS   WEEKS. 


XXIII. 
JAMES  HUGKHNS  WEEKS. 

HIS   EARLY    HISTORY — AS    A    RAILROAD  MAN — PERSONAL — 
HIS    EARLY    HISTORY. 

Mr.  Weeks  was  born  in  the  city  of  New  York,  July  28th, 
1798.  He  was  the  son  of  James  Weeks,  a  merchant  in  that 
city. 

At  an  early  age  he  began  attending  select  school  in  that 
city,  and  although  educational  advantages  were  more  prim- 
itive, and  classical  privileges  less  extensive  than  now,  he 
began  the  study  that  culminated  in  a  sound  business 
education . 

In  1808,  his  parents  moved  from  New  York  to  Oyster 
Bay,  Long  Island,  and  took  up  their  residence  upon  the  old 
paternal  farm.  There  young  James  continued  his  studies 
in  the  Oyster  Bay  Academy,  then  under  the  supervision  of 
Rev.  Marmaduke  Earle. 

In  1818  he  married  Susan  Maria,  the  second  daughter  of 
Major  William  Jones,  of  Cold  Spring  Harbor,  Long  Island, 
residing  principally  in^Pyster  Bay  until  the  year  1827.  At 
the  expiration  of  that  year,  he  moved  to  Yaphank,  having 
previously  purchased  a  large  tract  of  land — a  portion  of 
Col.  Smith's  patent.  In  1836,  in  conjunction  with  William 
Sidney  Smith  and  Robert  H.  Gerard,  he  purchased  the  old 
Homan  Mills,  and  erected  a  new  and  commodious  one  upon 
the  site  of  the  old  one. 

Mr.  Weeks'  land  estate  is  extensive.  His  farm  is  produc- 
tive and  valuable,  and  his  acres  of  thrifty  timber-land  are 
many.  He  has  suffered  much  from  repeated  fires,  and  the 
damage  he  sustained  is  considerable. 


118  YAPHANK    AS   IT   IS. 

There  is  a  system  of  cleanliness  and  exactness  about 
everything  Mr.  Weeks  supervises,  and  his  farm  and  build- 
ings are  models  of  neatness. 

AS   A   RAILROAD   MAN. 

In  1834  a  project  was  started  by  some  prominent  men  in 
the  city  of  New  York  to  build  a  railroad  from  Brooklyn  to 
Greenport. 

Mr.  Weeks  early  took  a  strong  interest  in  the  promotion 
of  the  scheme,  and  was  one  of  the  Commissioners  named  in 
the  charter  for  receiving  subscriptions  for  the  capital  stock. 

In  1846  he  was  elected  a  director  of  the  road,  and  in  1847 
was  chosen  president — continuing  in  that  office  until  1850. 

He  has  also  been  a  trustee  of  Brookhaven  Town  for  four 
consecutive  years,  a  commissioner  of  highways,  and  filled 
other  positions. 

PERSONAL. 

Mr.  Weeks  is  a  man  of  the  day  ;  fully  up  to  the  develop- 
ments around  him. 

The  record  of  his  life-work  is  one  that  may  be  studied 
with  advantage  by  every  one  possessing  sufficient  spirit  of 
emulation  to  wish  to  learn  the  true  secret  of  successful  lives. 
The  undoubted  success  which  he  has  achieved  appears  due 
to  the  healthy,  vigorous  mental  and  physical  education  he 
received.  He  has  a  wide-awake4  practical  knowledge  of 
the  live  questions  that  concern  the  world  of  to-day,  and  a 
sound  judgment  of  his  own,  which  he  ever  reserves. 

Mr.  Weeks  has  but  little  sympathy  for  the  struggling 
masses  ;  possesses  a  calm,  ev.en  temperament,  with  no  love 
for  notoriety,  and  no  patience  with  any  truckling  for  popu- 
lar applause,  and  no  greed  for  the  honors  of  office. 

His  public  life  has  been  marked  with  judicious  actions,  a 
iirm  conviction  of  his  own  ability,  and  a  clear  comprehen- 
sion of  public  policy  and  not  civic  rule.  He  and  the  Hon. 
William  Sidney  Smith  wielded  'great  and  acknowledged 
influence  during  their  active  connection  with  the  Long 


YAPHANK    AS   IT   IS.  119 

Island  Railroad,  and  Mr.  Weeks'  administration  was  a 
successful  and  prosperous  one. 

Mr.  Weeks  has  a  spirit  that  was  born  to  lead  as  well  as 
to  follow,  and  is  nearly  coherent  with  that  class  of  men  who 
are  "born  to  command." 

Few  men  have  a  better  understanding  of  political  and 
private  economy  than  he  ;  and  he  is  a  gentleman  of  quiet 
but  most  genial  manners,  always  true  to  his  convictions  of 
duty,  and  very  efficient  in  his  quiet  but  usually  successful 
support  of  his  ideas. 

He  lives  apart  from  the  village  and  the  world  in  a  beauti- 
ful home,  whose  greatest  charm  is  a  loving  wife,  who,  for 
over  half  a  century  of  years,  has  walked  the  sunset  way 
with  him. 

Mrs.  Weeks  is  a  refined  and  accomplished  lady,  and  is 
highly  connected.  She  is  a  sister  of  Mrs.  William  Sidney 
Smith,  a  lady  of  refined  and  cultivated  mind  and  manners, 
and  the  mother  of  a  noble  and  talented  famity. 

Mr.  Weeks  never  boasts  of  his  wealth,  his  position  in  life, 
or  of  his  aocomplishments.  He  is  a  thorough  business 
man,  and  wastes  no  time  in  useless  debate  or  parley. 

From  the  New  York  Times  of  Sept.  26,  1866,  is  extracted 
the  following  account  of  a  daring  attempt  to  rob  Mr.  Weeks, 
in  his  home  at  Yaphank.  The  spirited  and  business-like 
way  in  which  Mr.  Weeks  usually  disposes  of  difficulties, 
will  be  evidently  apparent  in  the  Times1  description,  which 
is  as  follows: 

"On  Saturday  evening,  soon  after  8  o'clock,  as  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  James  H.  Weeks,  of  Yaphank,  L.  I.,  were  sitting  in  a 
small  front  room  of  their  house,  in  the  eastern  extremity  of 
the  village,  a  gentle  knock  was  heard  at  the  door  of  a  nar-, 
row  entry  adjacent.  Mrs.  Weeks  called  the  attention  of 
her  husband  to  it,  who  arose,  to  open  the  door.  Having 
been  in  a  slight  doze,  and  not  at  once  seeing  clearly,  he  did 
not  go  directly  toward  it,  which  Mrs.  Weeks  observing, 
went  herself  and  opened  the  door.  As  she  did  so,  two  men, 
with  faces  disguised,  pressed  through  the  entrance.  At  the 


120  YAPHANK   AS   IT   18. 

same  time,  she  saw  two  others  standing  outside.  One  of 
the  former  presented  a  pistol  toward  her,  with  a  threatening 
'  hush  !'  while  the  other  entered  the  sitting-room  and  aimed 
his  pistol  at  Mr.  W.,  with  '  Your  money  or  your  life.' 

"  The  words  had  barely  been  uttered,  when  Mr.  Weeks, 
now  thoroughly  aroused,  sprang  toward  the  fellow,  and 
with  one  hand  seized  the  arm  which  held  the  pistol,  and  di- 
verted its  aim,  while  he  grappled  him  with  the  other,  forc- 
ing him  against  the  wall  and  window,  and  driving  his  elbow 
through  the  latter.  The  outcry  of  Mrs.  Weeks  brought  in 
a  domestic  from  another  room,  whom  Mrs.  Weeks  directed 
to  blow  a  horn.  In  the  meantime  Mr.  Weeks'  assailant, 
still  firmly  clutched  by  him,  struggled  toward  and  suc- 
ceeded in  reaching  the  entry,  through  which  they  both  went 
with  a  rush ;  to  avoid  which  the  others  precipitately  re- 
treated, and  in  so  doing  overthrew  a  large  box  of  earth  and 
flowers,  with  its  heavy  supporting  block,  which,  happen- 
ing to  fall  in  the  way,  tripped  the  heels  of  the  fellow,  who 
fell  backward,  with  Mr.  Weeks  on  top  of  him.  The  fall 
disengaged  the  parties,  when  the  fellow  sprang  to  his  feet 
and  fled  with  the  others,  leaving  a  large  black  felt  hat  upon 
the  ground,  where  it  was  presently  picked  up,  and  is  still 
in  Mr.  Weeks'  possession. 

"  Tb.e  whole  affair  occupied  less  time  than  its  recital,  and 
had  it  not  been  for  the  resolute  courage  and  activity  of 
Mr.  Weeks,  who,  by  the  way,  is  almost  seventy  years  old, 
we  might  have  had  to  report — what  has  lately  became  too 
frequent  an  occurrence — a  bold  and  successful  robbery,  or 
something  still  more  serious,  instead  of  this  unsuccessful 
attempt. 

"  We  are  happy  to  announce  to  the  friends  of  Mr.  Weeks 
that,  with  the  exception  of  some  bruises  below  the  knee,  oc- 
casioned by  striking  against  the  edges  of  the  block,  he  came 
out  of  the  struggle  uninjured. 

"  W.  J.  W. 

Monday,  Sept,  34th,  1866." 


YAPHANK   AS   IT   IS.  121 

Thieves  and  house-breakers  entertain  a  poor  opinion  of 
Mr.  Weeks  since  that  occurrence,  and  leave  him  severely 
alone. 

Mr.  Weeks  is  one  of  the  marked  men  on  Long  Island, 
and  among  the  most  influential.  He  represents  the  general 
convictions  and  aspirations  of  the  class  of  men  with  whom 
he  has  long  been  connected.  He  may  be  wrong,  but  is 
never  arbitrarily  so.  People  may  curse  his  actions,  but 
can  never  deny  his  fixed  and  honorable  motives.  He  has 
been  schooled  for  defeat  as  well  as  victory,  and  neither  can 
overcome  him.  Neither  friends  nor  money  can  allure  him 
from  what  he  believes  to  be  right,  and  nominations  for 
office  cannot  corrupt  him.  He  is  no*  political  tool,  and 
never  was,  possessing  no  elective  affinities  of  a  great  leader. 


XXIV. 
HON.   WILLIAM  SIDNEY  SMITH. 

AS     A     MILITARY      TACTICIAN — FROM     THE     DRAWING-ROOM 
ACROSS  THE  WILDERNESS — AS  A  PUBLIC  MAN — PERSONAL. 

Mr.  Smith  is  a  lineal  descendant  of  Col.  William  Smith, 
the  patentee  of  St.  George's  Manor,  and  was  born  at  Long- 
wood,  a  portion  of  the  Manor,  July  8th,  1796. 

At  seven  years  of  age  he  was  left  an  orphan,  and  his  edu- 
cational culture  was  under  the  direction  of  his  uncle  and 
guardian,  Gen.  John  Smith,  of  Mastic,  Long  Island.  After 
completing  a  thorough  course,  he  entered  the  counting- 
house  of  Cotheal  &  Russell,  in  the  City  of  New  York. 
When  twenty-one  years  of  age  he  returned  to  his  home  at 
Longwood,  and  took  possession  of  the  vast  estate  inherited 
from  his  ancesters,  and  in  the  year  1823  he  married  Eleanor, 
a  daughter  of  Major  William  Jones,  of  Coldspring,  Queens 
County,  Long  Island,  and  settled  permanently  at  Long- 
wood  the  following  year. 

AS    A   MILITARY   TACTICIAN. 

Mr.  Smith  has  been  a  public  man  for  over  forty  years. 
In  1815,  while  in  the  militia  service  tin  New  York  City,  he 
was  appointed  an  ensign  in  the  142d  regiment  of  the  New 
York  State  Infantry,  by  Daniel  D.  Tompkins,  then  Gov. 
of  New  York  State,  and  in  the  following  year  was  promoted 
to  the  lieutenantcy  of  a  company  in  the  same  regiment  by 
Gov.  Tompkins.  From  that  period  until  the  year  1823, 
he  continued  in  the  militia  service.  After  his  return  to 
Long  Island,  Gov.  Yates  tendered  him  a  commission  as 


TAPHANK   AS   IT   IS.  123 

Brigade  Major,  after  which  he  was  offered  a  commission  as 
Colonel,  which  he  declined. 

FROM  THE   DRAWING-ROOM   ACROSS   THE   WILDERNESS. 

In  the  year  1819— over  half  a  century  ago — Mr.  Smith 
undertook,  and  actually  accomplished,  a  perilous  journey 
from  New  York  to  Natchez,  Miss., 'through  a  trackless  wil- 
derness of  howling  forests  and  barren  plains. 

In  those  semi-barbarous  days,  and  in  that  wild  country, 
life  was  purely  original,  and  it  must  have  been  an  effort  for 
a  gentleman — born  and  bred  within  the  delicate  circles  of 
refined  life — to  have  burst  the  silk  and  satin  ties  and  plunged 
into  the  then  almost  unexplored  precincts  of  savage  Indians 
and  wild  beasts. 

He  was  obliged  to  adapt  himself  to  the  primitive  and 
novel  modes  of  travel ;  the  hardships  of  crossing  mountains, 
fording  streams,  &c.,  and  the  many  inconveniences  of 
''  roughing  it."  Having  accomplished  the  desired  business, 
he  returned  in  safety,  after  an  absence  of  four  months. 

AS   A   PUBLIC   MAN. 

Mr.  Smith  has  held  various  town  and  county  offices,  and 
has  been  a  public  man  for  nearly  three  score  years.  He 
was  County  Treasurer  for  fifteen  years ;  has  been  Super- 
visor of  the  Town,  a  School  Commissioner,  a  Trustee,  and  a 
Member  of  the  State  Assembly  in  1834,  '48  and  '56.  He  has 
also  been  a  railroad  director,  trustee,  executor  of  many 
estates,  and  many  minor  offices  of  trust  and  responsibility 
has  he  filled,  and  always  with  honor  to  himself  and  satisfac- 
tion to  his  constituents. 

His  many  years  of  official  life  are  an  undeniable  verifi- 
cation of  his  ability  and  integrity,  and  the  utmost  confi- 
dence always  reposed  in  him,  a  proof  of  his  honor,  ableness 
and  solidity  of  character. 


124  YAPHANK    AS    IT   IS. 

PERSONAL. 

Mr.  Smith  is  of  the  medium  height,  about  seventy-nine 
years  of  age,  with  a  slight,  erect  form,  straight  as  an  arrow. 
His  manners  are  quiet  and  unostentatious.  He  is  a  man  of 
great  liberality,  and  a  devout  Presbyterian.  He  erected 
a  handsome  residence  at  Longwood,  and  reared  a  family 
of  smart,  energetic  children.  His  sons  are  mostly  public 
men,  and  inherit  much  of  their  father's  popular  spirit. 

People  know  Mr.  Smith  but  to  honor  him.  Conserva- 
tives and  Radicals,  Democrats  and  Republicans,  Catholics 
and  Protestants,  say  nothing  ill  of  Mr.  Smith. 

There  is  an  air  of  frank  benignity  in  his  manner,  some- 
times a  tenderness  in  his  tone,  and  always  so  sincere  in  his 
efforts  to  please  that  one  is  captivated  with  his  society. 
He  has  a  mass  of  information,  anecdote,  incident  and  story 
about  earlier  clays  that  is  interesting  and.  pleasing. 

Mr.  Smith  is  a  generous  creditor.  If  a  man  cannot  meet 
his  contracts,  and  Mr.  Smith  is  satisfied  that  he  is  honest, 
he  will  never  press  him.  He  is  a  liberal  supporter  of  the 
gospel,  and  his  family  imitate  his  philanthropy.  Like  the 
immortalized  Sidney  Smith,  he  is  a  great  joker,  and  a  more 
merry,  jovial  man  one  seldom  meets. 

But  the  eye  once  bright  is  growing  dim,  and  the  ma- 
chinery of  life  runs  no  more  with  noiseless  accuracy.  The 
snows  of  many  Winters  have  whitened  the  auburn  hair,  and 
the  weight  of  years  causes  the  stately  form  to  totter. 

Sidney  Smith  has  been  a  busy  man,  and  has  taken  an 
active  part  in  the  town  and  county  affairs  for  many  years, 
but  his  busy  days  are  over.  A  few  years  ago  he  suffered  a 
paralytic  shock,  and  his  health  is  greatly  impaired. 

His  son  Robert  conducts  his  affairs  here,  and  his  sons 
and  agents  in  the  City  of  New  York  manage  his  business 
there  and  elsewhere.  He  is  very  wealthy,  but  to  what  ex- 
tent cannot  be  definitely  stated.  He  has  interest  in  rail- 
roads, banking  and  other  stocks,  besides  thousands  of 
broad  acres. 


YAPHANK   AS   IT   IS.  126 

The  pleasure  is  a  sufficient  remuneration  for  me  to  write 
of  such  men  as  James  Weeks  and  Sidney  Smith,  and  I  ac- 
knowledge the  honor  and  privilege  of  first  recording  in  his- 
tory the  most  important  facts  connected  with  their  lives  and 
times. 

Men  who  live  peaceful,  honorable  and  active  lives,  and 
who  live  for  the  benefit  of  others  as  well  as  for  themselves 
and  families,  are  men  the  world  love  to  honor  and  read 
about. 

Messrs.  Smith  and  Weeks  are  men  that  have  lived  for 
some  good  in  life  ;  men  that  have  advanced  enterprise,  and 
men  that  may  die,  but  can  never  be  forgotten. 


SIDNEY   H.    RITCH. 


XXV. 

* 

SIDNEY  H.  RITCH. 

STATION  ISLAND — WILLIAM  GUItNEY — FALL  OF  SAVANNAH- 
ABRAHAM  LINCOLN'S  DEATH — PERSONAL. 

Mr.  Hitch  was  born  in  the  village  of  Port  Jefferson,  May 
27th,  1840.  His  parents  died  when  he  was  in  his  fourth 
year,  and  he  was  then  cared  for  by  his  grandmother  and 
uncle,  who  resided  at  Middle  Island. 

His  father,  believing  he  would  financially  better  himself 
by  removing  South,  resolved  to  go  to  North  Carolina, 
where,  for  several  years,  he  followed  the  occupation  of 
teaching,  and  aided  in  revising  the  school  system. 

He  settled  in  Hyde  County,  and  was  appointed  Presi- 
dent of  the  Board  of  Education  established  there. 

Young  Sidney  was  left  with  his  uncle  and  grandmother, 
and  was  happy  in  his  pleasant  home.  He  was  sent  to 
school  at  an  early  age,  and  received  such  an  educational 
polish  as  could  be  obtained  at  the  village  school.  The  teach- 
ers were  usually  very  competent.  Among  them  was  Doc. 
E.  H.  S.  Holden,  regarding  whose  ability  it  is  needless  to 
comment. 

On  leaving  school  he  found  his  store  of  knowledge  incom- 
plete, and  has  since  been  striving  to  add  to  what  he  then 
possessed.  His  favorite  reading  is  the  poetry  of  the  best 
authors,  such  as  Pope,  Milton,  Young,  Southey,  and  others 
of  acknowledged  repute. 

In  the  year  1859  the  bud  of  his  latent  ambition  burst,  and 
he  exchanged  the  common-place  excitements  of  his  rural 
home  for  the  startling  adventures  of  a  "life  on  the  ocean 
wave." 


130  YAPHANK    AS  IT   18. 

He  led  the  free-and-easy  life  of  a  "jolly  tar"  during  the 
year  of  1859,  when  he  returned  home  and  taught  singing- 
school  during  that  Winter.  In  the  year  of  1860  he  again 
bade  farewell  to  home,  and  entered  as  an  apprentice  to 
the  carpenters'  trade.  In  1862  he  says,  "I  felt  a  power 
of  patriotism  burning  in  my  bosom.  I  thought,  instead 
of  taking  three  pills,  that  I  would  take  three  years  in  the 
army.  Hearing  that  there  was  a  dispensary  at  308  Broad- 
way, New  York  City,  I  determined  to  secure  a  prescrip- 
tion. Some  of  my  friends  advised  with  me,  and  I  resolved 
to  try  a  'dose.'  I  soon  found  my  name  enrolled  among 
the  '  true  blues '  of  the  gallant  127th  N.  Y.  Volunteers, 
and  met  one  thousand  men  equally  as  bad  off  as  myself/' 

He  says,  "  We  were  sent  to 

STATION  ISLAND, 

where  we  remained  a  few  days  waiting  for  equipments, 
clothing  and  State  bounty. 

"We  stood  guard  with  clubs  and  condemned  muskets, 
which  soon  became  monotonous.  At  last  we  received  our 
clothing  and  equipments,  but,  instead  of  our  State  bounty, 
a  stirring  appeal  to  our  patriotism  from  our  Col., 

WILLIAM  GURNET." 

Mr.  Ritch  has  much  of  the  Billings  and  Twain  vein  in 
his  jolly  composition,  and  his  spicy  descriptions  of  army 
life  are  decidedly  entertaining  and  racy. 
In  one  description  of  his  soldier  life  he  pleasingly  says : 
"We  were  cordially  received  at  Baltimore  and  hospitably 
treated  to  a  sumptuous  supper — the  last  we  were  to  enjoy  for 
nearly  three  long  years.  We  left  again,  en  route  for  the  na- 
tional capital,  but  were  delayed  at  the  Relay  House  nearly 
all  night  in  consequence  of  a  severe  rain-storm,  which  swept 
away  the  track  in  places,  thus  rendering  it  unsafe  for  us  to 
proceed  in  the  night.  We  at  last  arrived  at  Washington, 
having  passed  two  days  and  a  night  in  cattle  cars  which 


YAPAANK    AS   IT   IS.  131 

looked  like  riddles.  Finding  ourselves  at  the  capital,  we 
expected  soon  to  be  introduced  into  more  comfortable 
quarters,  or,  what  would  have  been  more  pleasing,  in- 
vited into  the  President's  reception  parlor,  suffer  the 
agonies  of  a  private  interview  with  the  'old  man,'  puff  into 
oblivion  a  few  of  his  choicest  brands,  listen  to  a  round  of 
his  crackling  jokes,  and  then  be  politely  ushered  into  ele- 
gant sleeping  apartments,  whose  downy  couches  were  made 
doubly  soft  because  a  Simon  Cameron  or  John  Morrissey 
once  found  sweet  repose  in  the  perfumed  foam  of  the  snowy 
coverlets. 

"  While  we  were  waiting  in  glorious  anticipation  of  some- 
thing grand,  we  were  sternly  ordered  to  '  fall  in,'  '  right  face ' 
and  '  forward  march  !'  We  bivouacked  for  the  remainder 
of  the  night  in  the  field,  with  the  canopy  of  heaven  for  our 
ceiling,  the  verdant  earth  for  our  bed,  and  a  shoddy  blanket 
for  a  covering.  Thus  surrounded  and  shut  in  from  the  out- 
side world,  we  drew  around  us  the  curtain  of  repose,  and 
for  the  first  time  laid  us  down  to  the  peaceful  dreams  of  a 
soldier.  The  remainder  of  the  night  we  passed  in  heavenly 
slumber  and  bright  dreams  and  brilliant  visions  of  the 
battles  of  Gettysburg,  Fredericksburg,  Chancellorville  and 
'  hanging  Jeff  Davis  on  a  sour  apple  tree.' 

"  In  the  morning  we  awoke  at  the  first  tap  of  the  drum, 
climbed  up  the  hill,  and  fell  in  for  roll-call.  Each  one  an- 
swered to  his  name  with  an  air  of  much  uncertainty.  We 
proceeded  to  take  account  of  ;  patriotism,'  and  found  on 
investigation  that  it  had  depreciated  about  ten  per  e£nt. 
Some  of  the  boys  lost  it  all  '  on  the  march '  the  previous 
night,  and  never  deemed  it  worth  going  back* after.  Dur- 
ing the  day  the  ambulances  arrived  with  whatever  had 
been  thrown  away,  with  the  exception  of  the  '  patriotism.' 

"  We  spent  the  Winter  of  1862  in  the  defence  of  Wash- 
ington, moving  our  camp  frequently.  From  Arlington 
Heights  we  enjoyed  a  pleasant  view  of  Gen.  Lee's  house, 
plantation,  and  beautiful  surroundings.  The  residence  is 
on  the  bank  of  the  Potomac,  and  presents  a  magnificent 


132  YAPHANK   AS   IT  IS. 

prospect  of  the  Capitol.  Near  the  house  is  the  family 
burying  ground  of  the  Custis  family.  At  the  foot  of  the 
hill  and  near  the  river  is  the  tomb  of  Peyton  Randolph. 
Before  Lee  denied  the  authority  of  his  country,  and  raised 
his  hand  in  rebellion,  he  possessed  all  that  heart  could 
crave  to  bind  him  with  endearing  ties  to  his  home  and 
country. 

"In  the  Spring  of  1863,  we  were  ordered  into  the  field. 
Then  began  our  long,  tedious  marches.  In  the  outside 
precincts  of  Frederick  City  we  found  the  7th  encamped.  We 
entered  into  conversation  with  them,  and  our  hearts  were 
stirred  by  their  tales  of  suffering.  Shelter  tents  covered 
them  from  inclemencies  of  the  weather,  and  '  Government 
rations '  stilled  the  inner  man,  and  supplied  the  fountain  of 
their  'patriotism.'  We  could  decidedly  sympathize  with 
them,  for  we  '  feasted '  on  the  same  kind  of  rations,  but  as 
for  the  tents,  we  had  not  been  obliged  to  live  in  them. 
We  were  pleased  to  see  their  condition  improved,  for  they 
were  then  in  barns,  doing  duty  at  the  front. 

"One  of  our  regiment  became  deranged,  and  ran  about 
the  field,  with  his  fingers  pointing  heavenward,  continually 
shouting,  '  There's  a  light  in  the  window  for  thee,'  which 
was  quite  consoling,  as  we  hourly  expected  to  be  called 
into  action. 

"  We  left  the  7th  regiment  to  '  guard  the  barns,'  and  ad- 
vanced towards  Boonsboro.  We  rested  for  the  night,  and 
the  following  day  proceeded  to  Hagerstown.  On  the  road 
we  saw  a  signboard,  bearing  the  inscription  :  '  Kilpatrick  is 
not  dead  yet.'  This  was  very  cheering.  We  had  the  as- 
surance that  Kilpatrick  was  still  '  up  and  doing,'  and  if 
we  were  slain,  '  there  was  a  light  in  the  window. ' 

"During  our  many  days  of  marching,  we  saw  much  pic- 
turesque scenery,  and  marched  many  poor  mules  to  death. 
It  was  very  much  like/  ascending  the  side  of  a  house  to 
climb  some  of  the  mountains.  We  dared  not  look  back  for 
fear  of  falling  a  mile  or  two  down  the  craggy  sides.  In 
Greenfield  we  found  only  one  accessible  well  of  water,  and 


YAPHANK    AS   IT   IS.  133 

that  was  filled  with  calves'  heads,  hens,  chickens,  &c.  We 
soon  cleaned  out  the  '  little  mess,'  and,  putting  down  a  bag 
of  charcoal,  shortly  purified  the  water. 

4 'One  day  we  were  called  out  to  witness  the  shooting  of 
a  deserter,  a  member  of  another  regiment.  The  regiments 
formed  a  hollow  square,  and  an  ambulance  approached 
with  the  victim,  who  calmly  sat  upon  his  coffin.  He  was 
led  to  his  grave,  placed  upon  his  coffin,  while  twelve  men, 
with  loaded  muskets,  were  drawn  up  before  him.  Clear 
and  startling  rang  out  the  command  to  fire,  and  the  next 
instant  the  poor  wretch  was  writhing  in  the  agonies  of 
death.  A  few  moments  more,  and  the  cold  clay  closed 
over  the  scene. 

"  During  our  passage  to  Charleston  we  were  obliged  to 
boil  our  coffee  over  lighted  candles,  on  the  steamer's  deck. 
During  the  voyage  an  altercation  took  place,  and  in  the  ex- 
citement I  threw  a  chap  out  of  a  third  tier  bunk  to  the 
floor.  After  my  exhibition  of  physical  prowess,  I  was  po 
litely  informed  that  I  had  played  a  joke  on  the  '  bully  '  of 
the  regiment.  Of  course  I  did  it  accidentally ! 

"  The  voice  of  an  angel  used  often  to  disturb  the  peace- 
ful slumbers  of  those  in  Charleston.  It  was  the  '  swamp 
angel' — a  single  gun  battery,  mounted  in  the  mud  directly 
under  the  guns  of  Castle  Pinkney.  From  this  gun  the 
first  shot  was  hurled  into  the  City  of  Charleston.  Our  lei- 
sure time  was  occupied  in  fighting  sand-fleas,  gnats,  '  sil- 
very-tongued  mosquitoes,'  and  drinking  water  that  had 
been  drained  through  the  bodies  of  fallen  heroes.  Such 
was  the  bright  side  of  my  soldier  life  !  I  organized  a  class 
in  singing,  which  I  drilled  in  the  quartermaster's  tent  once 
a  week.  One  dozen  books  were  presented  to  us  from  a 
friend  in  New  York  City,  and  four  men  were  selected  to 
form  a  quartette,  viz.  :  George  Reeves,  Van  Buskirk, 
Youngs,  and  myself.  We  received  our  appointments  from 
Lieutenant  Col.  Woodford. 

"During  a  battle  a  lad  of  fifteen  years  was  mortally 
wounded.  He  was  as  fine  a  looking  lad  as  I  ever  saw.  and 


134  YAPHANK   AS   IT  18. 

of  pure  Union  sentiment.  He  was  pressed  into  the  rebel 
service,  fired  his  gun  in  the  air,  and  shortly  after  received 
his  death  wound.  In  the  agonies  of  death,  deafened  by 
the  din  of  battle,  he  cried  out  for  his  mother  and  sister. 
Such  incidents  make  tender  and  lasting  impressions  upon 
the  mind,  even  of  a  soldier.  In  another  battle  two  of  my 
intimate  friends  were  killed.  While  our  batteries  were 
firing  in  the  morning,  one  of  them  wrote  in  his  diary  :  '  If  I 
am  killed  to-day,  God  help  my  mother.'  Little  he  sus- 
pected, though  he  penned  the  sentiments,  that  the  bright 
sun  was  beaming  on  him  for  the  last  time. 

"  One  day  a  shell  struck  a  cook-house  of  one  of  the  regi- 
ments. The  building  being  built  of  logs  and  mud,  the 
shell  caused  a  general  demolition,  and  for  a  short  time  the 
only  visible  objects  were  mess-pans,  kettles,  and  a  thick 
cloud  of  dust.  After  the  excitement  subsided,  the  debris 
was  seen  moving  in  a  certain  place,  arid  a  moment  later  a 
Dutch  cook  emerged,  saying :  '  Vot  in  heell  ish  de  mad- 
der?'" 

Mr.  Hitch  is  an  amusing  and  gifted  writer,  and  all  of  his 
narrations  are  spicy  and  pleasing.  I  heartily  wish  that 
time  and  space  permitted  yours  truly  to  record  more  of  his 
elaborate  accounts  of  "life  at  the  front,"  but  this  con- 
tracted biographical  and  descriptive  record  will  not  allow 
more  extended  details,  although  positively  entertaining. 
My  readers  must  content  themselves  with  the  broken  ex- 
tracts I  can  only  present ;  remember  that  "brevity  is  the 
soul  of  wit,"  and  "a  good  time  is  coming." 

Our  hero  again  modestly  breaks  forth  thusly :  "  Well,  1 
have  been  hungry  all  day,  and  when  the  shades  of  twilight 
fell,  slept  on  two  rails  to  keep  from  sinking  in  the  mud,  so 
I  could  find  myself  in  the  morning.  I  have  seen  men  with 
their  heads  blown  off,  with  arms  and  legs,  and  all  that 
tends  to  make  life  desirable,  shattered  to  fragments ;  but 
this  does  not  seem  to  call  forth  much  sympathy,  because  I 
was  not  blown  to  atoms,  I  suppose.  One  night  there  came 
up  a  dense  fog — thicker  than  a  stone  wall  and  higher  than 


YAPHANK   A8   IT  18.  136 

the  tower  of  Babel.  With  this  fog  came  the  news  of  the 
'fall  of  Savannah.'  All  the  troops  turned  out  at  mid- 
night and  gave  three  cheers,  a  tiger,  and  a  tom-cat.  Our 
bands  struck  up  the  new  tunes,  called  Hail  Columbia, 
Star  Spangled  Banner,  and  Yankee  Doodle — all  com- 
posed for  the  occasion.  I  am  glad  to  hear  that  they  have 
since  become  somewhat  popular.  Out  of  justice  to  the  fog, 
I  would  state  that  some  of  the  notes  didn't  come  down 
until  the  next  day,  and  some  of  the  artillerymen  got  their 
ramrods  fast  in  the  fog,  and  couldn't  get 'them  out  until  it 
cleared  in  the  morning. 

"  Beaureguard  having  heard  of  the 

FALL   OF   SAVANNAH, 

and  of  General  Sherman's  advance,  started  farther  South. 
While  in  the  City  of  Charleston  I  formed  some  pleasant 
acquaintances — of  course,  the  most  agreeable  of  them  were 
with  ladies,  with  excellent  vocal  talents.  Many  enjoyable 
moonlight  excursions  have  I  whiled  on  the  pleasant  Bay. 
But  this  is  the  romantic  portion,  of  which  we  read  so  much  in 
books.  We  took  possession  of  one  of  the  finest  and  largest 
churches  in  the  city,  and  soon  established  a  fine  choir  of 
mixed  voices.  In  the  post-office  I  became  acquainted 
with  General  Harrison's  grandson,  John  Taylor,  Stanly  G. 
Trott,  and  others  of  note. 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN'S   DEATH 

caused  deep  regret,  not  alone  to  the  soldiery,  but  with  the 
citizens.  Leaving  Charleston,  we  started  for  Hilton  Head, 
and  thence  for  New  York.  Talk  about  moonlight  excur- 
sions with  Southern  beauties,  with  golden,  raven,  auburn, 
or  any  other  tresses !  Such  things  are  appropriate  for  poets 
and  love-sick  swains  to  prattle  about,  but  is  naught  com- 
pared to  a 

,/ HOMEWARD   BOUND,' 

after  a  three  years'  knock-about  in  the  war. 


136  YAPHANK    AS   IT   18. 

u  After  returning  to  civil  life,  I  again  took  up  my  trade 
for  a  season  ;  but  finding  myself  not  as  robust  as  before  the 
war,  I  gave  it  up,  and  for  a  period  was  with  Prof.  Abby, 
in  New  York  City,  receiving  musical  instruction.  At  this 
time  I  was  chorister  in  the  Tabernacle  Church,  in  Green- 
point,  where  I  became  acquainted  and  rather  fascinated 
with  the  young  lady  organist  in  the  same  church.  Both 
being  musicians,  I  thought  it  might  prove  beneficial  to 
study  our  natures  a  little.  We  used  sometimes  to  while 
whole  evenings  in  this  delightful  study,  until  at  last  we 
found  our  chords  so  complete  that  we  ventured  to  appear 
in  public,  where  we  struck  the  hymenal  chord,  from  which 
we  have  not  as  yet  resolved  into  the  dominant  Seventh." 

PERSONAL. 

Mr.  Ritch  has  a  peculiar  and  rare  gift  of  song.  He  is 
tall  and  well-formed,  with  a  long,  flowing  beard,  dark  and 
wavy.  There  is  a  freedom  from  cant  and  affectation  in  his 
manner.  His  voice  is  clear  and  ringing,  and  sweeps  from 
the  lowest  bass  to  the  highest  register,  in  tender  and  pathetic 
notes. 

His  wife  is  a  sweet  lady — talented  and  musical.  Theirs 
is  a  harmonious  life,  devoted  to  the  soothing  powers  of 
song.  Mr.  Ritch  has  taught  many  singing  schools,  and 
qualified  many  pupils  for  the  sweet  field  of  music. 

His  whole  make-up  assists  him  ;  his  actions  are  pleasant 
and  natural ;  he  puts  himself  in  perfect  sympathy  with  his 
audience,  and-  his  ringing  voice  pours  out  charming  music. 
Whether  the  flowers  are  blooming  in  Spring  or  dying  in 
Autumn,  the  change  affects  not  his  jolly  jokes.  Down  the 
flowery  path  he  treads,  arm-in-arm  with  his  gifted  wife. 
The  roses  and  the  lilies  bloom  for  them,  and  their  songs 
mingle  with  the  warbling  notes  of  the  birds,  and  are  wafted 
o'er  the  placid  waters  to  the  sweet  Eden  of  song. 


Part  Second. 


O  L  D    YA  P    AS    IT    W  A  S  . 


THE 


OLD    LAND-MARKS    THAT    HAVE    PASSED    AWAY. 


PART   SECOND. 


i. 

YAPHANK  AS  IT  WAS. 

CONTAINING     BIOGRAPHICAL    SKETCHES    OF  THE     MEN   THAT 
ONCE   WERE  PROMINENT. 

ESQUIRE   MORDECAI  HOMAN. 

HIS   SMALL   BEGINNING   AND    FINAL    ACHIEVEMENTS. 

While  Yaphank  has  a  history  and  Brookhaven  Town  a 
record,  the  name  of  Mordecai  Homan  will  form  a  prominent 
feature  in  both. 

He  was  the  most  popular  and  illustrious  Homan  and  citi- 
zen that  *ver  lived  in  Yaphank  ;  he  was  a  sagacious  poli- 
tician, of  keen  penetration  and  judgment,  a  discerning  and 
judicious  business  man,  and  a  noble  and  much-loved  citi- 
zen. 

No  man  was  better  acquainted  with  the  history  of  his 
day  and  town  than  he ;  for  forty-two  years  he  was  Town 
Clerk,  a  responsible  and  trusted  officer. 

When  age  laid  its  unrelenting  hand  upon  him,  and  in- 
firmities forced  him  to  lay  aside  the  quill  forever,  it  was  a 
lamented  period  in  Brookhaven.  The  old  veteran  laid  down 
his  harness  with  a  sigh.  Long  years  had  he  been  the  social 
friend  and  adviser  of  public  men;  long  years  had  he  been  a 
faithful  servant  and  an  honorable  leader. 

During  all  the  years  of  his  public  life,  not  a  murmur  was 
spoken  against  him.  No  one  doubted  'Squire  Homan' s  ve- 


140  YAPHANK   A8   IT  WAS. 

racity  and  honor ;  no  one  questioned  what  he  discharged. 
When  his  eyes  grew  dim  and  his  steps  tottering,  he  bade 
farewell  to  a  busy  life,  lived  to  see  a  successor  established 
and  then  girded  on  his  armor  for  the  long,  long  march  of 
his  fathers. 

When  the  cruel  grave  closed  over  him,  and  the  mourning 
ones  turned  toward  the  home  made  sad  by  the  Angel  of 
Death,  a  soothing  consolation  cheered  every  heart,  and 
mitigated  the  deep  sorrow  ;  he  had  left  a  spotless  record,  a 
white  rose  of  a  blameless  life  behind  him. 

Those  who  had  differed  with  him  politically,  dropped  a 
tear  over  his  grave.  The  bad,  bold  politician,  feared,  but 
loved  him.  When  he  died  the  sun  set  over  a  sorrowing 
people. 

His  life  was  a  martyrdom  of  care  and  trouble.  A  large 
family  of  ailing  relatives  depended  upon  him  for  the  things 
of  life,  and  hundreds  of  dollars  went  to  alleviate  physicians' 
demands.  With  but  few  to  assist  and  many  to  pull  down, 
he  still  trudged  manfully  on,  and  reared  a  snug  fortune  and 
an  enviable  name. 

From  boyhood  to  ripe  old  age  he  carried  that  ambitious 
and  business-like  air.  He  was  truly  a  self-made /nan,  and 
erected  the  pillars  of  his  success.  He  was  born  of  plebeian 
parentage,  and  no  golden  spoon  held  dainty  morsels  to 
soothe  his  childish  whims.  No  wealthy  relatives  or  finan- 
cial king  placed  him  in  public  favor,  or  assisted  in  sus- 
taining his  reputation. 

During  the  most  seditious  and  tumultuous  political 
times,  when  the  trusted  and  tried  party  men  were  abused 
and  crushed  by  a  people  who  had  lost  confidence  in  them, 
Esquire  Homan  was  among  the  few  who  ran  the  gauntlets 
unabused,  and  passed  the  ordeals  unscathed. 

There  were  no  Camerons,  no  Wades,  no  Butlers  or  Sum- 
ners  in  his  day  ;  and  he  lived  before  the  men  of  Morrissey 
stamp  became  honorables  and  national  dictators. 


YAPHANK   AS   IT   WAS.  141 

HIS   SMALL    BEGINNING   AND   FINAL   ACHIEVEMENTS. 

Early  in  life  he  taught  school  and  labored  upon  his  farm. 
He  lived  with  his  father  upon  his  farm  at  Middle  Island 
during  his  younger  days. 

When  about  twenty-eight  years  old,  he  married  a  Miss 
Polly  Buckingham,  in  Old  Milfred,  Conn.,  and  purchasing 
his  brother's  interest  in  the  "  Homan  estate,"  at  Yaphank, 
moved  thither. 

He  evinced  original  ability,  and  his  appreciating  towns- 
men soon  elected  him  a  Justice  of  the  Peace.  In  consumma- 
tion, Esquire  Homan  officiated  in  nearly  every  town  office. 

In  the  days  of  his  glory,  his  many  friends  were  enthusi- 
astically in  favor  of  his  accepting  the  nomination  for  Assem- 
bly. That  nomination,  and  the  proffered  one  for  Super- 
visor, he  decidedly  refused.  He  was,  without  doubt,  the 
strongest  candidate  for  either  position  in  the  town,  at  that 

time. 

THOMAS  HOMAN. 

HIS   CHARACTERISTICS. 

This  deceased  yeoman  was  born  in  Yaphank,  1781.  His 
remains  are  buried  in  the  Presbyterian  churchyard,  sur- 
rounded by  the  graves  of  those  who  were  young  with  him- 
self. 

He  died  Feb.  6th,  I860,  aged  seventy-nine  years  and  six 
months. 

HIS    CHARACTERISTICS. 

Thomas  Homan  was  a  farmer,  and  owned  and  tilled  the 
farm  now  occupied  by  his  son  Edward.  He  was  a  much 
respected  neighbor,  and  an  exemplary  Christian.  "Every- 
body liked  'Uncle  Tommy,'  and  'Uncle  Tommy'  liked 
everybody."  He  had  a  small  body,  but  a  large  heart ;  and 
his  mind  was  invariably  contented  and  happy. 

Thomas  was  the  youngest  of  a  family  of  three  brothers — 
Mordecai,  Philip  and  Thomas.  Their  father  was  named 
Mordecai,  and  their  grandsire  also. 


142  YAPHANK    AS   IT   WAS. 

Mr.  Homan  lived  during  the  "Sunny  Era,"  before  the 
"new  fangled  things"  drove  the  good  old  established  cus- 
toms into  obscurity.  He  lived  in  Yaphank  when  it  was 
not  Yaphank,  and  when  every  citizen  now  living  was  far  in 
the  future. 

There  are  many  anecdotes  connected  with  the  lives  of 
these  "Subjects  of  the  Past,"  that  would  interest  and 
amuse  ;  but  time  and  space  does  not  permit  me  to  record 
them. 

By  plunging  into  the  buried  past,  I  contracted  a  more  ar- 
duous task  than  I  at  tirst  imagined.  To  recall  the  local  in- 
terest of  my  own  day  is  a  facile  effort  compared  to  my 
gleaned  reminiscences  of  the  long  ago  ;  but  I  endeavored  to 
make  my  sketches  as  authentic  as  they  are  brief. 

I  smile  in  ray  heart  as  I  write  of  these  old  patriarchs,  who, 
many  years  ago,  guided  the  plow  and  gathered  the  har- 
vest where  dwellings  and  business  institutions  now  stand  ; 
whose  lives  were  unbroken  by  fashion's  tide  ;  whose  years 
were  unmarred  dreams  of  rustic  happiness,  remote  from  the 
engine' s  screech  or  the  roar  of  enterprise. 

What  a  grand  transformation  !  The  old  men  that  are 
gone  could  never  live  happy  in  this  age  !  It  is  too  scien- 
tific and  enlightened  ! 

"  Uncle  Tommy "  was  an  industrious  man,  and  an  un- 
changeable Christian.  His  voice  has  long  been  silenced, 
and  sweet  flowers  have  many  Summers  bloomed  over  his 
grave;  but  when  the  Resurrection  shall  arouse  the  slum- 
bering dead,  his  face  will  beam  brighter  than  the  flowers 
that  wave  o'er  his  grave. 


II. 

DBA.  SIMMONS  LAWS. 

Dea.  S.  Laws  was  born  in  England,  1781.  and  died  at 
Yaphank,  Feb.  4,  1867,  aged  86  years,  10  months  and  10 
days. 

He  came  to  the  "States"  with  his  parents  when  fifteen 
years  old,  and  settled  in  the  Ridge.  He  married  there,  and 
early  moved  to  Yaphank,  where  he  kept  a  tavern  in  an  old 
structure  that  stood  west  of  his  more  recent  residence. 

To  the  day  of  his  decease  he  was  a  senior  elder  and  dea- 
con in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  quite  ecclesiastically 
famous. 

When  he  came  to  Y he  was  not  wealthy,  but  contin- 
ually added  to  his  estate,  and  ultimately  possessed  a  large 
tract  of  wood  and  cultivated  land. 

Dea.  Laws  was  a  pious  man,  but  ignorance  often  caused 
him  to  grope  in  darkness.  He  was  arbitrary  and  self-willed, 
and  blindly  grasped  for  worldly  goods.  Like  many  ex- 
emplary Christians,  he  carried  the  world  in  one  hand  and 
God's  Word  in  the  other.  His  besetting  sin  was  an  inborn 
love  for  money  ;  but  that  peculiar  failing  is  as  universal 
within  the  sanctuary  as  in  the  "Broad  Road,"  and  is  not 
generally  declared  a  "very  bad  fault." 

Mr.  Laws  lived  to  a  ripe  old  age,  and  calmly  sank  to 
sleep.  He  left  many  mourning  friends  behind  him,  and  a 
breach  that  has  never  been  filled.  It  was  a  lovely  winter 
day  when  his  remains  were  lowered  to  their  long,  long  rest ; 
but  at  the  last  trump  his  face  will  beam  from  beyond  the 
setting  sun,  and  he  will  be  judged  with  his  fathers. 


144  YAPHANK    AS   IT   WAS. 

RICHARD   HAWKINS. 

Richard  Hawkins  was  born  in  Setauket,  1796,  and  died 
at  Yaphank,  April  29th,  1865.  He  was  fifty-nine  years  old. 

Mr.  Hawkins  was  a  quiet,  retired  man,  and  not  very 
popular  or  exceedingly  unpopular.  He  reared  a  large  fam- 
ily, and  died  poor.  He  died  in  obscurity,  and  in  the  bosom 
of  his  family. 

No  lioness  cast  her  whelps  in  the  streets  when  he  was 
born  or  when  he  died.  No  warring  of  the  elements,  or 
strange  appearances  in  the  heavens,  denoted  that  a  great 
soul  had  passed  into  eternity ;  but,  calmly  and  serenely,  as 
the  sun  rose  in  the  east,  his  spirit  sank  down  the  west. 

He  was  a  laboring  man,  and  worked  alternately  at  farm- 
ing, tailoring  and  carpentering.  He  never  gained  pre-em- 
inence in  his  combined  callings,  or  even  distinction  in  one. 

His  children  are  separated  far  and  near.  One  son  lies 
beneath  the  dark  waters  of  the  Atlantic,  and  another,  Rob- 
ert, entered  the  Mexican  war,  came  home,  "  went  up  the 
Mississippi,"  took  ill  and  died. 

Mr.  Hawkins  married  a  daughter  of  Dea.  Simmons  Laws, 
and  settled  in  the  home  of  his  after  scenes 

He  established  no  enduring  name,  and  his  good  and  bad 
acts  lie  mouldering  with  his  mortality. 


III. 

JONAH  HAWKINS. 

HTS  EARTHLY  LABORS — UNCLE  JONAH' S  ANTERIOR  POSITION. 

This  jocund  old  gentleman  was  born  in  West  Moriches, 
Sep.  3,  1790.  He  died  Dec.  3,  1856.  His  epitaphic  words 
were:  "When  my  soul  fainted  within  me,  I  remembered 
the  Lord." 

Jonah  Hawkins  was  not  an  exceedingly  fascinating  man. 
physically,  but  a  more  agreeable  and  honorable  citizen 
never  existed  in  Yaphank.  Always  feeble  and  frail  in  con 
stitution,  but  active  and  ambitious. 

He  was  hunchbacked  and  very  deaf ;  but,  notwithstand- 
ing his  physical  deformity,  he  always  wore  a  genial  smile 
for  every  one.  Mr.  Hawkins  possessed  an  irreproachable 
reputation  while  living,  and  left  a  white  record  of  a  blame- 
less life. 

HIS  EARTHLY  LABORS. 

Where  E.  W.  Mills  now  ''gathers  in  the  dust"  stood  an 
unpainted,  weather-beaten,  brown  structure,  one  story  and 
attic  high.  In  that  old  building,  Jonah  Hawkins  estab- 
lished a  grocery  store  on  a  limited  scale,  and  from  behind 
the  low,  rough-planed  counter,  the  old  gentleman  would 
smilingly  greet  his  rustic  customers. 

In  those  uye  olden  days,"  Yaphank — then  Millville — 
gloried  in  the  accommodations  of  three  stores.  Isaac 
Terry's  was  declared  the  model  mercantile  institution,  and 
he  the  '•  princely  merchant." 

J.  P.  Mills  was  then  unknown  upon  the  mercantile  sea. 
but  he  soon  launched  his  chip.  He  purchased  Mr.  Terry's 
business  and  interest,  and  became  possessor  of  the  lit- 

10 


146  YAPHANK    Af=    IT   WAS. 

tie  brown  store.  A  larger  and  more  commodious  one  was 
soon  erected  upon  the  old  ground,  and  the  romantic  name 
of  "  Mills"  was  a  business  fact. 

UNCLE  JONAH'S  ANTERIOR  POSITION. 

What  is  now  Van  Rensellar  Swezey's  carriage  and  store 
house,  forty  years  in  the  past  was  a  popular  grocery  and 
Yankee  Notion  store,  where  the  vivacious  subject  of  our 
sketch  bartered  his  commodities  and  notions  for  farmers' 
produce,  and  the  hard  cash  of  the  local  yeomanry. 

"Uncle  Jonah"  lived  to  the  mature  old  age  of  three- 
score years  and  six,  and  then  he  girded  on  his  armor  and 
began  the  long,  long  march  through  the  valley.  He  died  as 
he  had  lived,  fearing  God  and  loving  man. 

His  mortality  slumbers  beside  those  of  his  faithful 
companion,  in  the  Episcopal  graveyard  in  Yaphank. 

JONAS  BUCKINGHAM. 

Jonas  Buckingham  was  born  in  the  town  of  Old  Milford, 
Ct,  February  25,  1779.  He  died  and  was  buried  at  Yap- 
hank,  February  25,  1815.  He  was,  accordingly,  46  years 
old  when  he  laid  down  the  things  of  life. 

There  lives  not  a  mortal  upon  earth  at  the  present  day 
who  remembers  Uncle  Jonah's  boyhood,  or  the  scenes  of 
1779  ;  and  the  number  is  meagre  who  can  recall  the  period 
of  his  marriage  and  residence  in  Yaphank. 

He  married  a  widow  lady  named  Greene,  I  believe, 
and  settled  in  Yaphank  on  the  bank  of  the  bonny  Connect- 
icut. 


IV. 
MORDECAI  OVERTON. 

A  NUMEROUS  FAMILY. 

Mr.  Overton  was  born  in  Coram,  May  26,  1797,  and  died 
at  Yaphank,  November  17,  1866.  He  was,  according  to 
mathematical  exactness,  79  years  old. 

Mordecai  was  an  ingenious  man,  and  noted  as  a  successful 
watch  and  clock  repairer.  He  was  a  son  of  the  "illustri- 
ous" John  Overton,  and  brother  of  the  "immortal"  James. 

A    NUMEROUS  FAMILY. 

The  Overtons  are  an  almost  innumerable  race,  and  their 
names  appear  conspicuously  at  every  point  of  the  compass. 
They  are  a  class  that  have  become  more  remarkable  for 
numbers  than  illustrious  deeds  or  virtues,  and  Mordecai 
was  a  fair  representative  of  the  "  great  whole." 

I  know  of  none  that  begat  criminals,  or  men  eminent  for 
innate  greatness ;  in  the  language  of  the  Englishman, 
they  "are  about  arf  and  arf."  It  can  be  safely  declared 
that  the  race  never  will  do  much  damage  by  the  impetu- 
osity of  family  ambitions,  or  much  national  benefit  by  states- 
manly  greatness. 

Mordecai  lived  in  Yaphank  many  years,  and  was  univer- 
sally considered  an  honorable,  ingenious  and  inoffensive 
man  ;  a  pleasant  neighbor  and  companion. 

Mr.  Overton  was  a  remarkable  inventor  in  his  humble 
way,  and  constructed  many  things  of  decided  merit.  He 
invented  the  famous  crank  augur  now  in  use  in  every  ship- 
yard in  the  country.  He  also  invented  the  combination 
shovel,  for  digging  cellars,  cisterns,  wells,  &c.  None  of 


148  YAPHANK    AS   IT   WAS. 

these  were  patented,  and,  like  nearly  every  other  inventor, 
Mr.  Overton  died  poor. 

DANIEL  HAMMOND. 

THE   SOCIAL   CUSTOMS   OF  HIS   DAY. 

Daniel  Hammond  was  born  May  23d,  1774,  and  died  De- 
cember 30th,  1848. 

Mr.  Hammond  was  shoemaker,  tanner  and  currier  for  the 
vicinity,  and  was  considered  a  clever  workman.  In  the 
seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries  the  farmers  furnished 
hides  to  the  local  tanneries,  and  had  them  "  done  up  on 
shares."  Cobblers  visited  the  rural  homes  and  "  made  up  " 
the  family  work  once  or  twice  a  year.  Cow-hides  were  con- 
sidered fashionable,  and  even  bare  feet  on  the  Sabbath  were 
not  regarded  as  violating  conventional  decorum. 

Mr.  Hammond  was  not  remarkable  for  noble  deeds,  or 
for  his  individual  malevolence.  He  was  not  illustrious  for 
his  elevated  magnanimity  or  debased  malapertness. 

THE  SOCIAL   CUSTOMS   OF  HIS   DAYS. 

It  was  customary,  and  not  considered  debasing,  in  Daniel 
Hammond's  time,  to  "tip  the  elbow."  Men  in  exalted  sta- 
tions, and  those  regarded  as  examples,  and  highly  respect- 
able people  in  all  capacities,  drank  "  blue  lightning." 

The  ring  of  the  social  glass  was  heard  at  every  public  and 
private  gathering,  and  was  countenanced  by  the  aristocrat 
and  the  plebeian.  Cider  flowed  in  every  man's  cellar,  and 
"good  whiskey"  was  no  luxury  in  the  farming  homes. 
But  evil  effects  attended  the  old-time  drunks,  as  it  invari- 
ably accompanies  our  more  modern  "  carousels,"  and.  deli- 
rium tremens  was  as  common  as  the  toasts. 

Mr.  Hammond  liked  the  "fire  water,"  but  seldom  drank 
to  dissipation,  or  a  pernicious  extent.  It  was  usual  for 
him  to  drink  a  friendly  glass  with  such  men  as  Esquire 
Homan  and  Phillips,  who-  generally  drank  the  great  toast 
of  the  day — friendship. 


YAPHANK    AS   IT   WAS.  149 

Five  sons  and  a  daughter  grew  up  around  him,  and  still 
live  to  read  his  record. 

Mr.  Hammond  was  familiarly  known  among  his  acquaint- 
ances and  neighbors  as  "Neighbor  Hammond,"  and  by 
that  soubriquet  was  universally  addressed. 

He  was  a  smart  man  and  an  excellent  workman,  but  if  he 
ever  suffered  a  besetting  sin,  it  was  a  passion  for  intoxicat- 
ing liquor. 

The  snows  of  many  winters  have  fallen  over  his  grave, 
and  his  body  lies,  with  no  monument  to  mark  its  resting 
place,  in  the  Middle  Island  burying  ground. 


y 

ESQUIRE  WILLIAM  PHILLIPS. 

A    REVIEW — THE   OLD   SQUIRE' S   PECULIARITIES. 

Time  will  not  permit  me  to  dwell  lengthily  on  the  bi- 
ography of  this  lamented  man,  whose  appellation  forms 
the  subject  of  this  sketch. 

He  died  as  he  had  lived  :  in  the  bosom  of  his  family,  and 
high  in  the  esteem  of  all  who  knew  him. 

Esquire  Phillips  was  born  in  1787,  and  died  March  22, 
1858.  His  body  reposes  among  the  tombs  of  his  fathers 
and  friends  in  the  Middle  Island  bury  ing-ground. 

A  REVIEW. 

Before  he  was  married  he  worked  in  an  uncle's  store  as 
clerk,  in  Connecticut.  There  he  learned  to  drive  sharp  bar- 
gains, and  became  acquainted  with  the  varied  tastes,  dispo- 
sitions and  characters  of  humanity  generally. 

When  still  young  he  came  back  to  old  Long  Island, 
married,  and  settled  down  as  a  farmer.  He  owned  an  ex- 
tensive and  fertile  farm,  and,  unlike  our  farmers  of  this 
age,  the  farm  made  him  and  he  made  the  farm. 

He  speculated  much  in  wood  and  other  staple  products 
of  the  time,  and  amassed  quite  a  fortune.  The  'Squire  was 
a  hard-working  man  ;  hale  and  rugged. 

He  made  his  wealth  by  honest  toil  and  enterprise,  and  he 
left  four  children  a  father's  blesssing,  an  honest  name,  and 
the  fruits  of  honorable  toil. 

For  many  years  prior  to  his  death  he  suffered  with  a 
painful  cancer,  which  caused  his  death  at  last. 


YAPHANK    AS    IT    WAS.  151 

He  was  not  a  professing  Christian,  but  an  exemplary 
moral  man.  His  name  would  fittingly  adorn  the  scroll  of 
the  good  men  of  any  time. 

His  son  William,  who  bears  his  name,  bears  his  reputa- 
tion for  enterprise  and  industry.  He  has  done  more  to 
benefit  Yaphank  than  a  dozen  Augustus  Floyds  or  Nath- 
aniel Tuthills  ever  did  or  will. 

Where  the  County  Alms  House  reared  its  leviathan  frame, 
twenty -five  years  ago  grew  tall  forest  trees,  and  impene- 
trable undergrowth  shut  out  the  howling  wood.  'Squire 
Phillips  purchased  the  tract,  and  cleared  the  land  now 
known  as  the  county  farm. 

DANIEL  HUMAN. 

Daniel  Homan  was  born  in  1800,  and  died  at  Yaphank, 
Feb.  20th,  1847. 

At  seventeen  he  was  apprenticed  to  the  carpenter  trade 
under  the  vigilant  instruction  of  Benjamin  Grrover  of  Wad- 
ing River,  L.  I. 

In  1821  he  married  a  Miss  Melissia  Griffing,  and  removed 
with  his  young  wife  to  Brooklyn,  Long  Island.  He  pur- 
chased lots  and  built  the  first  house  ever  erected  on  Pine- 
apple street,  Brooklyn. 

The  climate  impaired  his  wife's  health,  and  not  proving 
exceedingly  congenial  to  his  own,  he  returned  to  his  old 
home  in  Yaphank. 

He  was  an  ingenious  and  skillful  workman.  Apparently 
in  the  flush  of  manhood  and  health,  that  deadly  ill  of  the 
human  race — consumption — fastened  its  implacable  coils 
around  his  form,  and  the  strong  man  became  feeble  and 
emaciated.  For  seven  years  he  suffered  a  lingering  death, 
when  the  diseased  body  fainted  and  died.  He  has  faced  the 
''king  of  terrors,"  and  suffers  no  more  sickness,  no  more 
sorrow. 


VI. 
ISAAC  MILLS,  ESQ., 

HIS   DEATH. 

Isaac  Mills  was  born  in  Smithtown,  1769,  and  died  at 
Taphank. 

Some  men  are  born  unfortunate  and  die  miserable.  Genial 
smiles  beam  upon  some  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave,' 
and  dark  days  never  lower.  Privately  and  publicly,  no 
cloud  darkens  their  sky,  but  all  is  sunshine. 

How  strange  and  intangible  seem  some  of  God's  dispensa- 
tions to  man  ;  and  how  varied  are  His  dealings  with  us  mort- 
als. He  allows  the  persecuted  to  suffer,  nor  guides  a  good 
Samaritan  to  cheer  the  sorrowing. 

Still  more  mysterious  is  His  dealing  with  the  persecutor. 
The  unrelenting  and  uncompromising  man  of  the  world 
lives  to  a  ripe  old  age  amid  the  blessings  of  health  and 
mortal  affairs,  while  the  godly  and  moral  suffer  in  body, 
mind  and  soul,  from  sickness,  trouble,  and  unpardonable 
crimes  compulsorily  performed. 

We  cannot  but  believe  that  although  Isaac  Mills  slept 
the  nights  of  his  unhappy  end  away  upon  a  bed  of  thorns, 
that  a  couch  of  roses  awaited  him  beyond  the  Great  Un- 
fathomed,  where  he  is  freed  from  the  taunts  and  abuse  of 
unnatural  relations. 

He  lived  unfortunately  and  died  unfortunately.  His 
earthly  career  was  an  ordeal  of  trouble — especially  his  lat- 
ter life. 

Trouble — domestic,  it  is  asserted — bore  him  to  a  sui- 
cide's grave  ;  and,  indeed,  it  must  have  been  aggravatingly 


YAPHANK   AS    IT    WAS.  163 

intense  to  have  caused  his  committal  of  a  deed  so  shocking, 
for  Isaac  Mills  was  inevitably  gay  and  buoyant  spirited. 

His  bones  are  mouldered  to  dust,  and  his  tongue  is  silent 
forever,  and  the  true  reasons  that  caused  him  to  commit  the 
awful  crime  that  lowered  the  black  curtain  over  his  dreary 
life,  were  buried  with  his  body,  and  money  has  ever  kept 
the  sea  unruffled  that  rolls  above  the  mystery. 

Who  or  what  originated  the  trouble  that  caused  him  to 
take  his  life,  is  one  of  the  sealed  insolubles  that  time  alone 
can  reveal. 

HIS   DEATH. 

It  was  a  lovely  Sunday  eve  that  he  committed  the  act  that 
stamped  his  name  upon  the  dark  scroll  of  self-murderers. 
The  night  wind  rocked  the  tall  trees  to  and  fro  that  towered 
above  the  old  farm-house  where  he  lived  ;  and  the  holy  si- 
lence of  a  Sabbath  evening  had  fallen  over  the  settlement  of 
Yaphank. 

It  was  an  evening  in  keeping  with  the  horrible  deed  that 
was  destined  to  make  it  long  remembered.  The  stars  glim- 
mered dimly  through  a  hazy  mist,  and  twilight — the 
most  solemn  hour  of  the  twenty-four — was  slowly  trans- 
formed into  sober  darkness.  The  lovely  twilight  hour  had 
vanished,  and  evening  had  thrown  its  sable  mantle  over  the 
quiet  Sabbath  scene,  when  the  night  air  rang  with  the  re- 
port of  a  shocking  deed. 

"  Isaac  Mills  has  committed  suicide  !" 

The  startling  import  roused  the  slumbering  yeoman,  and 
changed  the  sleeping  settlement  into  a  rustic  bedlam. 

Behind  the  barn  that  still  stands  upon  the  old  farm,  lay 
the  subject  of  the  report,  groaning  and  dying. 

His  throat  was  severed  from  ear  to  ear,  and  the  gurgling 
noise  caused  by  blood  flowing  into  his  throat,  attracted  the 
attention  of  cattle  in  an  adjoining  yard,  and  their  loud 
bellowing  raised  the  alarm. 

When  a  sufficient  number  of  witnesses  had  arrived  to  sus- 
tain his  removal,  he  was  conveyed  to  his  couch  of  thorns  to 
die. 


154  YAPHANK    AS    IT   WAS. 

His  wound  was  tenderly  dressed  by  Doc.  Samuel  P. 
Norton,  of  Coram,  his  family  physician,  and  he  was  urged 
to  wait  patiently  the  result.  He  rocked  to  and  fro  upon  his 
couch,  in  an  agony  of  mind  and  body.  He  did  not  wish  to 
live  ;  oh,  no  !  What !  live  to  again  undergo  the  trouble 
that  robbed  him  of  his  hapicess?  God  forbid. 

He  tore  the  bandages  from  his  wound,  and  prayed  for 
death  to  relieve  him  of  his  agony.  It  came.  The  dreaded 
monster  was  welcomed  in  that  little  chamber  of  suffering, 
and  the  angel  bore  from  the  shores  of  time  a  great  martyr. 
Isaac  Mills  was  dead  ! 

The  cold  sod  had  closed  over  his  remains,  and  Isaac  Mills 
was  catalogued  with  the  past.  The  affair  created  much 
"talk,"  but  the  excitement  finally  subsided  and  was  for- 
gotten; but  we  are  sanguine — although  the  stain  of  a  suicide 
darkens  his  memory — that  he  is,  this  moment,  praising  the 
God  of  Abraham,  of  Isaac,  and  of  Jacob. 

APPOLAS   MILLS. 

HIS   ILLUSTRIOUS   WIFE — THE   TRUE   MAN. 

Appollas  was  the  eldest  son  and  heir  of  Isaac  Mills. 
There  were  three  sons  and  a  daughter — Appollas,  Horace, 
Philip,  and  Joanna. 

Appollas  married  a  Miss  Urania  Phillips,  a  sister  of  the 
popular  Esquire  William  Phillips — who  was  seven  years  his 
senior.  But,  as  considerable  "cash"  was  annexed,  the 
seniority  was  no  obstacle  to  a  happy  union — and  such  it 
was. 

She  was  a  loving  wife  and  mother,  and  an  acknowledged 
business  woman.  Her  name  deserves  to  be  cherished 
among  the  model  women  of  the  age,  as  a  choice  sample. 
She  was  more  illustrious  and  popular  than  her  husband, 
and  did  I  represent  feminine  prominency  in  this  little  vil- 
lage record,  be  assured  that  Mrs.  Urania  Mills  would  be 
rep  resented. 


YAPHANK    AS    IT    WAS.  155 

Appollas  Mills  did  nothing  while  on  earth  wherein  the 
world  can  recognize  superior  characteristical  qualities,  nor 
anything  that  does  signalize  his  name. 

By  terming  Mr.  Mills  conspicuous,  I  rank  his  sketch 
among  others,  who,  in  consequence  of  the  scarcity  of  more 
brilliant  subjects,  I  am  compelled  to  notice  in  keeping  with 
their  family  connections,  rather  than  deserved  eminence. 

He  was  not  loquacious,  or  taciturn;  not  classical,  or  illit- 
erate; not  obtuse,  or  gifted. 

What  was  he 2  Well,  he  was  "a  man!"  Yes,  that  is 
nice  ;  it  carries  a  deal  of  meaning  with  it.  A  man  of  honor  ! 
A  man  in  the  true  sense  of  the  word  ! 

Although  he  did  nothing  worthy  fame  or  story;  although 
no  historian  will  labor  over  pages  of  flowery  words  in  ex- 
tolling his  obscure  name,  he  nevertheless  deserves  a  shining 
throne  high  above  the  fabled  heroes  whose  crimsoned  swords 
won  bloody  records,  but  not  the  enviable  titles  of  "true 
men." 


VII. 
DANIEL  B.  SWEEZEY. 

"Died  at  Yaphank,  April  24th,  1863,  Daniel  B.  Sweezey, 
in  the  33d  year  of  his  age." 

The  above  appeared,  with  the  quoted  obituary  below,  in 
the  Suffolk  Herald  of  May  20th,  1863. 

"On  the  llth of  the  same  month,  in  leaping  from  a  wagon, 
he  struck  the  ground  unfavorably,  and  broke  his  leg.  The 
fracture  was  complicated,  with  a  severe  external  wound 
from  the  protruding  bone,  and  although  at  first  hopes  were 
confidently  entertained,  it  became  apparent  in  a  few  days 
that  he  was  in  a  critical  condition.  Tetanus,  or  locked-jaw, 
supervened,  and  baffled  all  the  efforts  of  his  physician. 
His  funeral  on  Sunday,  the  26th,  was  largely  attended  by 
his  sorrowing  friends  and  neighbors,  and  was  impressive  as 
a  remarkably  mournful  occasion. 

"  In  parting  with  Daniel,  our  community  has  sustained  a 
serious  loss.  Here,  every  one  is  known  and  numbered,  and 
his  death  has  opened  a  void  that  cannot  easily  be  filled. 
Steady  and  industrious,  he  gained  our  respect ;  kind  and 
obliging,  he  won  our  esteem  and  friendship.  His  open  heart 
and  willing  hand  contributed  to  his  usefulness.  In  his 
dealings  he  was  generous  and  liberal,  and  his  deportment 
and  cheerfulness  comported  with  his  Christian  character 
and  pleasantry.  While  he  bore  his  sufferings  with  manly 
fortitude,  he  was  resigned  to  his  fate,  and  died  lamented  by 
all.  This  brief  tribute  is  due  to  his  memory,  while  his  lin- 
eaments are  still  vividly  before  us,  and  ere  time  shall  have 
wrapped  all  in  forgetfulness.  For  him  we  may  safely  cher- 


YAPHANK    AS   IT   WAS.  157 

ish  the  belief  that  he  has  exchanged  the  cares  of  earth  for 
the  joys  of  Heaven." 

"  Lord,  who's  the  happy  man  that  may 

To  thy  blest  courts  repair, 
Not  stranger-like,  to  visit  them, 
But  to  inhabit  there  ? 

"  "Tis  he  who  walketh  uprightly, 
Whom  righteousness  directs ; 
Whose  generous  tongue  disdains  to  speak 
The  thing  his  heart  rejects. 

"  Who  never  did  a  slander  forge, 

His  neighbor's  fame  to  wound ; 
Nor  hearken  to  a  false  report 
By  malice  whispered  round. 

"  Who,  vice  in  all  its  pomp  and  power, 

Can  treat  with  just  neglect ; 
And  piety,  though  clothed  in  rags, 
Religiously  respect. 

"  Who,  to  his  plighted  vows  and  trust 

Has  ever  firmly  stood ; 
And,  though  he  promise  to  his  loss, 
He  makes  his  promise  good. 

"  Whose  soul  in  usury  disdains 

His  treasure  to  employ ; 
Whom  no  rewards  can  ever  bribe 
The  guiltless  to  destroy. 

"The  man  who,  by  this  righteous  course, 

Has  happiness  insured, 

When  earth's  foundation  shakes,  shall  stand, 
By  Providence  secured." 

YAPHANK,  May  15th,  1863. 


158  YAPHANK   AS   IT   WAR. 

How  the  people  mourned  when  Daniel  Sweezey  died  ! 
Each  grain  of  earth  that  fell  over  his  grave,  seemed  to  bear 
down  the  lamenting  hearts  in  deeper  sorrow. 

He  was  one  of  those  scarce  men  who  go  down  to  the  cruel 
grave  when  their  virtues  can  be  ill  spared. 

For  years  Mr.  Sweezey  was  the  loadstone  of  J.  P.  Mills' 
store,  and  when  the  unfortunate  trip  robbed  him  of  his  life? 
he  was  fast  becoming  the  most  popular  man  in  this  vicinity. 

He  married  the  youngest  daughter  of  Appollas  Mills — a 
sister  of  J.  P.  Mills — and  entered  the  store  as  head  clerk. 
He  left  no  children  to  mourn  a  father's  death,  but  a  loving 
wife  to  suffer  a  husband's  loss. 

In  the  church-yard  at  Middle  Island,  he  is  sleeping  the 
sleep  that  knows  no  waking,  and  o'er  his  grave  is  reared  a 
tablet  to  the  memory  of  one  of  nature's  true  noblemen.  , 


VIII. 
ROBERT  H.  HAWKINS,  JUN. 

HIS   FIRST   STRUGGLE — A    TRIBUTE  TO    HIS    MEMORY. 

Mr.  Hawkins  was  a  gentleman  of  sterling  qualities,  and, 
although  his  promising  future  was  obscured  by  the  grim 
mantle  of  death,  his  works  on  earth  evinced  his  many  ex- 
cellent talents,  and  a  beaming  future  of  well-earned  honors 
and  happiness. 

HIS   FIRST   STRUGGLE. 

When  but  a  lad  his  ambitious  spirit  led  him  into  busy 
life.  At  an  early  age  Mr.  James  H.  Weeks  gave  him  a 
letter  of  introduction  to  a  prominent  mercantile  firm  in  the 
City  of  New  York,  and  his  movements  upward  began.  It 
led  him  on  to  the  bright  goal  of  business  aspiration.  It 
helped  him  amass  a  fine  fortune,  and  to  form  endearing 
ties  with  many  noble  characters. 

A   TRIBUTE  TO   HIS   MEMORY. 

Mr.  Hawkins  died  at  Yaphank,  L.  I.,  December  16th, 
1 855,  aged  38  years. 

After  a  short  illness  Mr.  Hawkins  was  stricken  down  in 
the  prime  of  his  manhood,  and  at  an  age  when  his  prospects 
were  bright  for  many  years  of  happiness  with  his  beloved 
and  interesting  family. 

It  is  but  a  little  while  since  he  retired  from  an  active 
commercial  life  in  the  City  of  New  York  to  enjoy  the  rural 
and  domestic  pleasures  of  his  native  place,  and  to  soothe 


160  YAPHANK   AS   IT   WAS. 

the  declining  days  of  his  aged  father,  who,  being  entirely 
blind,  was  the  more  dependent  upon  his  son. 

Although  the  time  allotted  him  to  discharge  these  filial 
duties  was  short,  yet  his  friends  can  testify  how  faith- 
fully he  performed  them.  Kindly  he  guided  the  faltering 
steps  of  the  old  man,  and  cheered  his  lonely  home  by  read- 
ing and  praying  with  him.  Not  only  is  his  death  a  loss  to 
his  family,  but  to  society,  and  to  all  to  whom  he  had  en- 
deared himself  by  his  frank  and  courteous  manners  and 
generous  disposition.  Kind  and  obliging,  he  was  always 
ready  to  confer  a  favor,  and  ever  grateful  when  he  received 
one.  The  disease,  which  terminated  in  an  affection  of  the 
brain,  rendered  him  unconscious  of  all  around,  and  insen- 
sible to  the  attention  and  solicitude  with  which  he  was 
watched  by  his  family,  friends  and  neighbors.  They  hoped 
and  prayed  for  some  favorable  change,  that  he  might  be 
spared  to  his  beloved  ones.  But  no  interval  of  returning 
consciousness  permitted  him  to  bid  farewell  to  those  so 
dear  to  his  heart.  Yet  they  are  not  without  the  ever-blessed 
assurance  that  his  peace  was  made  with  God.  That  he  had 
not  neglected,  while  in  health,  to  "set  his  affections  on 
things  above  ;"  "to  lay  up  his  treasure  in  Heaven,  where 
neither  moth  nor  rust  can  corrupt."  Nor  was  he  ashamed 
to  confess  Christ  before  men,  in  partaking  of  the  Holy 
Sacrament  in  obeyance  to  the  command:  "Do  this  in  re- 
membrance of  me."  His  Christian  deportment  and  conver- 
sation were  apparent  to  all,  and  lie  has  truly  left  an  exam- 
ple worthy  of  imitation.  Although  in  the  enjoyment  of 
worldly  prosperity,  and  occupying  his  new  and  beautiful 
residence,  in  circumstances  where  pride  so  easily  besets  the 
human  heart,  he  was  just  as  humble  as  in  the  isolated 
cottage.  Before  its  completion  his  beautiful  home  was 
consecrated  to  prayer,  and  made  a  habitation  for  God. 

One  of  the  last  acts  previous  to  his  death  was  to  construct 
a  fence  enclosing  the  family  burial  ground,  through  the 
gate  of  which  his  own  mortal  remains  were  the  first  to  be 
borne. 


YAPHANK  AS   IT  WAS.  161 

There  may  they  lie  in  peace  until  the  morning  of  the  Re- 
surrection; and,  if  we  believe  that  "Jesus  died  and  rose 
again,"  "even  so  them  also  who  sleep  in  Jesus  will  Grod 
bring  with  Him." 

A  sad  day,  a  sad  hour  it  was  when  Hewlett  Hawkins 
was  laid  in  the  dark  and  stilly  tomb.  Every  Spring  the 
warm  zephyrs  fan  the  sweet  flowers  that  bloom  over  his 
grave,  and  the  cruel  frost  of  Autumn  cuts  down  the  waving 
grasses,  as  Death's  pale  charge  cuts  down  the  bright  and 
promising  man. 


11 


Part  Third. 


FACTS    AND     FANCIES; 

on, 
TRUTH  AND  TRIFLES  MOILED  DOWN. 


PART  THIRD. 


i. 

THE  FAILINGS  OF  THE  PEOPLE. 

GOSSIPING— COVETOUSNESS — "  RUSHING  "    ENTERPRISE. 

There  are  black  sheep  in  every  fold,  and  deceptive  gran- 
dees in  all  society.  No  village  is  complete  without  a 
town  pump,  where  the  feminine  portion  can  draw  up  and 
lower  down  the  characters,  wealth,  and  social  standing  of 
neighbors  and  acquaintances.  As  long,  as  long  as  the  world 
revolves,  so  long,  so  long  will  old  maids  and  young,  discuss 
the  prevalent  gossip  over  the  historical  tea-table  ! 

A  stranger  visits  the  place.  No  matter  about  the  sex  ; 
Miss  Grundy  must  first  inspect,  and  establish  her  verdict, 
before  her  devoted  followers  will  unmask  their  batteries. 
If  rich,  third,  fourth  and  fifth  cousins  will  Hock  down  like 
the  frogs  into  Egypt,  and  overflow  with  kindness.  The  past 
reputation  is  of  no  consequence.  The  elegant  and  refined 
grasp  heartily  the  callous  palm,  and  smile  upon  the  marks 
of  the  wash-tub.  Money  flings  open  the  aristocratic  gate, 
and  gold  paves  the  road  where  the  "heavy"  are  wont  to 
ramble. 

Whatever  excites  the  village,  Mr.  So-and-So  is  surely  the 
procreator ;  and  stories,  like  snowballs,  increase  in  size  as 
they  are  rolled  around. 

Yaphankers  have  three  failings,   viz :  Gossiping,  Covet 
ousness,   and   "Rushing"  Enterprise.      The  first  is  uni- 
versal, the  second  is  serai,  and  the  third  demi-semi.     Too 


166  FACTS   AND   FANCIES. 

much  enterprise  proves  pernicious.     Ah  !  the  fate  of  am- 
bitious Yaphank  ! 

GOSSIPING. 

Gossiping  is  innate  with  some,  and  easily  acquired  by 
others.  No  one  escapes  their  cruelty.  A  book  filled  with 
Yaphank  gossip  would  be  more  thrilling  and  interesting 
than  any  model  effort  of  a  Lytton  or  Scott.  When  our  full 
complement  is  at  home,  no  place  of  its  size  can  equal 
Yaphank  for  gossip  in  the  known  world.  The  four  winds 
of  Heaven  toss  mail  bags  through  their  doors,  and  the  Moon 
tells  them  hidden  tales.  It  is  impossible  to  please  a  gos- 
siper,  for 

"  We  may  go  through  the  world ;  hut  'twill  be  very  slow, 
If  we  listen  to  all  that  is  said  as  we  go  ; 
We'll  be  worried  and  fretted  and  kept  in  a  stew, 
For  meddlesome  tongues  must  have  something  to  do — 

For  people  will  talk  ! 

"  If  quiet  and  modest,  'twill  then  be  presumed 
Thatf  your  humble  position  is  only  assumed  ; 
You're  a  wolf  in  sheep's  clothing,  or  else  you're  a  fool, 
But  don't  get  excited  ;  keep  perfectly  cool — 

For  people  will  talk  ! 

"  If  threadbare  your  coat,  or  old-fashioned  your  dress, 
Some  one,  of  course,  will  take  notice  of  this, 
And  hint,  rather  close,  that  you  can't  pay  your  way, 
But  don't  get  excited,  whatever  they  say — 

For  people  will  talk! 

"  If  you  dress  in  the  fashion  don't  think  to  escape, 
For  they  criticise  then  in  a  far  different  shape, 
You're  ahead  of  your  means,  or  you're  bills  are  unpaid, 
But  mind  your  own  business,  and  keep  straight  ahead — 

For  people  will  talk  ! 


FACTS   AND   FANCIES.  167 

"They  will  talk  fine  before  yon,  bnt  then  at  your  back, 
Of  venom  and  spite  there  is  never  a  lack ; 
How  kind  and  polite  is  all  that  they  say, 
Bnt  bitter  as  gall  when  your' re  out  of  the  way — 

Oh  !  people  must  talk  ! 

"  Good  friend,  take  my  advice  and  do  as  you  please, 
For  your  mind  (if  you  have  one)  will  then  be  at  ease; 
Through  life  you  will  meet  with  all  sorts  of  abuse, 
But  don't  think  to  stop  them,  'twill  be  of  no  use — 

For  people  will  talk  !" 

COVKTOU8NE8S. 

The  Scripture  saitli,  "  The  spirit  that  dwelleth  in  us 
lusteth  to  envy."  It  is  a  common  failing  that  few  are  will- 
ing to  confess  they  are  beset  with  ;  and  if  Moses  kept  break- 
ing the  Ten  Commandments,  or  obliterated  the  Tenth,  more 
exemplary  churchmen  would  abound  than  now  receive 
that  ''coveted"  appellation.  The  '•  root  of  all  evil  "gener- 
ally supports  the  tree  of  covetousness,  and  thus,  the  more 
man  gets  the  more  he  wants.  The  wealthy  of  every  town 
and  village  are  generally  the  most  covetous,  and  the  world 
and  community  are  never  better  for  their  existence. 

Show  me  the  successful,  grasping  men  of  any  place,  and 
I  will  name  the  covetous  ones.  It  is  the  most  debasing 
obstacle  in  the  world  to  true  Christianity  ;  a  rock  upon 
which  many  unsuspecting  ones  are  wrecked,  and  go  down 
where  the  blind  never  see. 

"BUSHING"  ENTKRPKISE. 

The  proof  that  there  can  exist  too  much  enterprise  is 
startlingly  verified  in  this  "Gem  of  the  forests."  The 
screams  of  our  factories  shock  the  nerves  of  the  aged,  and 
their  smoke  choke  the  dormant  villagers  ;  while  the  shouts 
of  merry  workmen  startle  the  cattle  on  the  hillside,  and  send 
old  women  into  hysterics.  The  voice  of  Improvement 


168  FACTS   AND   FANCIES. 

thunders  over  the  hills,  and  down  into  the  quiet  valleys, 
rousing  the  sleepy  yeomen  from  their  long  lethargy,  and 
scattering  surprise  and  astonishment  everywhere.  Who 
says  too  much  enterprise  is  not  destructive  ?  Ah  !  the  fate 
of  Yaphank ! 

OUR  SOLID   MEN 

"  Can't  bear  the  idea  of  Yaphank  being  as  large  as  N.  Y. 
City."  Seems  hard,  too!  "Crime  can  and  will  hide 
its  black  form  in  the  bosom  of  a  great  city  ;  and  vice 
allure  the  unwary  and  innocent  into  its  dark  embrace," 
say  our  Solid  Men.  That  is  the  reason  land  can't  be 
bought  to  build  a  second  New  York,  I  suppose !  They 
also  say,  "  That  in  a  large  town  or  city,  none  inhale 
the  sweet  air  of  security  breathed  by  the  dwellers  in 
a  quiet  village."  Too  bad  !  Well,  the  public  never  can 
declare  our  "Gem  of  the  woods"  a  second  Gotham  of  the 
Western  World.  Too  much  vice  in  towns  for  Solid  Men  ! 


II. 

THE  BENEFICENCE  OF  YAPHANKERS. 

Nothing  is  peculiar  about  the  beneficence  of  Yaphankers, 
except  the  fountain  from  which  it  springs.  Here  the  poor 
give  their  mites  with  a  smile,  and  the  rich  stand  guard  over 
their  coffers.  To  ride  through  the  village,  strangers  would 
declare  Yaphank  a  cold,  inhospitable  place  ;  inhabited  by 
selfish,  disagreeable  people.  But  it's  not  true.  Yaphank 
ers,  as  a  people,  are  charitable ;  and  no  place  of  its  si/n 
contributes  more  toward  supporting  the  Word  of  God  and 
hushing  the  cries  of  the  poor.  It  is  only  the  rich  of  Yap- 
hank that  are  uncharitable ;  the  poor  and  well-to-do  are 
generous. 

One  can  count  with  the  fingers  the  men  who  darken  the 
name  of  Yaphank.  and  blanket  its  munificence.  They  can 
be  found  in  the  church,  and  their  names  are  familiar  in  the 
business  circles.  Such  are  a  curse  to  civilization  !  They 
block  up  the  roads  and  highways,  and  swarm  where  their 
presence  is  pernicious.  Yaphank  never  will  prosper  until 
these  men  balance  their  accounts  and  rest  where  the  "wood- 
bine twineth." 

A  stranger,  soliciting  alms,  passed  through  Yaphank. 
He  entered  a  gentleman's  house,  and  asked  for  money  and 
food.  The  gentleman  told  him  he  was  poor,  and  had  not 
money  to  shower  on  strangers.  He  is  a  steady  churchman, 
and  worth  over  fifty  thousand  dollars. 

"  You  appear  comfortable  ;  have  a  nice  house,  furniture, 
and  clothing,"  replied  the  stranger ;  "  while  I  am  sick,  and 
have  a  large  family  depending  on  me  for  bread."  The 
stranger  retired  without  comfort. 


170  FACTS   AND   FANCIES. 

There  are  men  here  who  have  retired  from  business,  and 
live  off  their  income,  who  shut  their  doors  on  the  poor,  and 
send  them  to  Mr.  -  -  for  alms ;  informing  the  solicitor 
that  "7i,e  is  able,  and  willing  to  give."  The  poor  man's 
sky  is  made  no  brighter,  or  his  wants  less,  by  the  philan- 
thropical  virtue  of  some  Yaphankers.  But,  thank  God, 
there  are  generous  exceptions  ! 

Oh  !  how  long  will  the  poor  cry  for  bread  !  How  long  will 
thousands  die  in  abjectness  and  poverty  in  this  world  of 
abundance  !  How  long  will  hundreds  live  in  an  Eden  of 
plenty,  and  thousands  in  huts  of  want ! 

The  interrogation  re-echoes  from  the  unfilled  mouths  of 
thousands  of  widows  and  orphans,  "How  long  ?" 

A  very  pious  old  lady  is  a  member  of  the  Yaphank 
Presbyterian  Church.  She  is  the  wife  of  a  wealthy  and 
retired  citizen  ;  and  never  wearies  in  lifting  sinners  out  of 
the  mire  of  the  world.  It  is  her  joy  to  gather  children  into 
the  Sabbath  School,  and  tell  them  the  "  sweet  story  of  old." 
She  visits  the  homes  of  the  poor.  She  crosses  their  thres- 
holds with  God's  love  swelling  her  heart  to  exuberance. 
She  pats  the  ragged  urchins  on  the  head,  and  pours  into 
their  ears  the  tale  of  the  Cross.  She  tells  them  if  they  are 
good  and  pious  children,  she  will  meet  them  in  Heaven  one 
day.  But  she  never  will !  She  is  uncharitable.  She  enters 
the  homes  of  poverty  ;  but  not  to  ease  the  bodily  pains. 
The  ointment  of  Heaven  she  freely  bestows,  and  mistakes 
the  haggard,  pinched  features  for  Heavenly  smiles.  She 
reads  God's  Word  blindly,  and  believes  a  continual  shout- 
ing in  His  favor  the  direct  road  to  the  Kingdom.  There 
are  many  Christians  like  her  in  Yaphank.  God  grant  their 
eyes  may  be  opened  on  this  side  of  the  waters  ;  for  Lazarus 
cooleth  no  tongues  ! 


III. 

MORAL  AND  IMMORAL  YAPHANK. 

MOEAL   YAPHANK. 

It  is  not  my  intention  to  dwell  protractedly  on  this  ethi- 
cal subject.  An  unquestionable  person  or  place  requires 
no  redeemer.  The  inborn  virtues  form  an  impenetrable  bar- 
rier, and  paint  an  unassuming  but  unapproachable  picture 
for  public  inspection.  Truly,  an  untarnished  title  requires 
no  aid  to  place  it  upon  a  favorable  basis.  The  exemplary 
life  of  Washington  can  be  told  in  a  few  words,  while  the 
varied  career  of  the  traitorous  Arnold  would  occupy  col- 
umns. 

In  reviewing  the  morality  of  Yaphank,  and  comparing 
with  foreign  samples,  I  am  decidedly  convinced  that  we  have 
as  sound  and  tried  morality  in  our  retired  little  village  as 
abounds  in  other  towns  of  more  prominence,  and  far  bolder 
pretensions  ;  the  denizens  of  which  ever  delight  in  speak- 
ing and  writing  encomiastic-ally  of  their  people  and  Chris- 
tian advancement. 

I  believe  the  elixir  of  Christianity  consists  not  in  pharisa- 
ical  pompousness  and  absurd  boasting  of  one's  spiritual 
virtues ;  and  that  the  reverberating  echoes  of  individual 
horns  are  no  more  a  verification  of  individual  greatness  than 
the  ass's  bray  is  a  proof  of  his  fondness  for  oats.  A  man's 
virtues  are  confirmed  by  his  deeds  ;  which  fact  is  plainly 
established  in  the  biographies  of  all  truly  immortal  moral 
men. 

The  majority  of  our  citizens  are  moral,  highly  respectable, 
and  all  pertaining  thereto  ;  and  if  less  inclined  toward  the 
mountain  of  self-aggrandizement  and  exaltation,  and 


172  FACTS   AND   FANCIES. 

more  curbed  their  avariciousness  and  worldly  lusts,  I 
should  be  spared  the  painful  duty  of  writing  even  a  limited 
account  of  the  immorality  abounding  here. 

My  friends  and  the  public  will  expect  and  justly  require 
of  me  an  impartial  and  correct  description  of  Yaphank  and 
the  people  ;  and  I  shall  endeavor  to  complete  the  obliga- 
tions of  my  undertaking  and  present  to  the  reading  public 
what  every  town,  city  and  county  should — an  authentic  his- 
tory of  the  inhabitants  and  place. 

It  is  impossible  to  write  in  laudation  of  one  without  mak- 
ing a  contradictor  and  opponent  of  another  ;  and  men  who 
write,  confining  themselves  to  partial  and  relative  limits, 
can  never  be  regarded  as  reliable  historians. 

IMMOKAL   YAPHANK. 

What  more  enlightened  villages  would  term  guileless 
amusement,  moral  arid  over-strenuous  Yaphank  would  de- 
clare shockingly  wicked. 

While  frolics  are  in  vogue,  the  good  congregate  to  offer 
prayers  for  the  giddy  and  read  their  "titles  clear."  One 
foot  must  belong  to  the  church,  or  the  frequenters  of  the 
unholy  ball-rooms  are  beyond  redemption. 

It  has  originated  no  little  amusement  among  strangers 
visiting  this  hidden  oasis  of  the  woods,  regarding  the  forced 
detestation  some  institute  against  that  most  pleasurable  of 
our  harmless  pastimes,  "a  good  country  hop."  Gene- 
rally they  cannot  dance  themselves,  and  never  attempted 
the  "  useless  and  immoral  amusement."  But,  as  fast  as  they 
master  the  art,  their  enthusiasm  overcomes  their  previous 
aversion,  and  it  is  astonishing  the  number  of  "hops"  these 
"moral"  ones  will  "get  up"  through  the  agency  of  some 
veteran  dancer.  Shy  at  first  in  instigating  these  "evil 
gatherings,"  they  become  more  and  more  enraptured  with 
the  harmless  enjoyment,  and  are  soon  catalogued — by  those 
yet  ignorant  of  the  delightful  art — among  the  irreparably 
lost. 


FACTS  AND  FANCIES.  173 

If  "tripping  the  light "  will  debar  any  from  that  heaven- 
ly choir,  how  many  innocent  ones  will  "pass  in"  their 
checks  at  Hades !  Oh !  ye  Gospel-makers  of  cant  and 
dollars— rof  free  love  and  anti-local-eruptions,  seek  not  for 
an  occasion  to  come  in  contact  with  those  who  prefer  danc- 
ing their  way  to  the  Great  Unfathomed  to  living  a  lethargi- 
cal career  of  valueless  gossip  in  mansions  built  of  glass ! 


IV. 
YAPHANK  AS  IT  WAS. 

WHAT  COMPRISED  YAPHANK  IN  1800 — YAPHANK  MILLS 
AND  THEIR  HISTORY — THE  OLD  GRANTS — WHY  YAP- 
PHANK  WAS  NOT  A  CITY. 

YAPHANK   IN   1800. 

In  the  early  days  Yaphank — Middle  Island — Millville— 
was  an  almost  unknown  hamlet  of  about  twenty  houses. 

To  give  its  present  inhabitants  a  brief  idea  of  what  con- 
stituted Yaphank  in  1800,  I  will  mention  and  situate  the 
old  land-marks  that  have  been  swept  away  by  the  cruel 
waves  of  time. 

The  number  and  sites  of  the  cottages  were  as  follows : 
One  by  th,e  present  residence  of  James  Weeks,  and  an  old 
dilapidated  structure  near  the  house  of  Appollas  Mills,  late 
deceased.  Another  near  the  site  of  Gerard's  grist-mill — the 
home  of  Jonas  Buckingham.  One  upon  the  ground  where 
the  house  of  the  late  William  Albin  now  stands.  The  Paul 
Terry  homestead  was  then  a  "  palatial  mansion  ; "  it  is  more 
familiarly  known  as  the  "old  John  Owen  house."  The 
building  still  stands,  and  is  the  property  of  J.  P.  Mills. 
Esq. 

A  one- story  house  was  situated  upon  the  banks  of  the 
river,  about  twenty  rods  south  of  Richard  Hawkins'  late 
residence — the  supposed  home  and  property  of  Samuel 
Randall,  Sr.  Another  ancient  cottage  reared  its  moss-em- 
bellished chimneys  about  ten  rods  east  of  D.  D.  Sweezy's 
hacienda ;  and  one  near  the  site  of  Samuel  Norton's  domi- 
ciliation.  An  almost  antediluvian  dwelling  stood  west  of 


PACTS   AND   FANCIES.  175 

the  famous  "  Valley  Farm  Hotel,"  now  the  estate  of  Alfred 
Reid,  Sr.,  but  better  known  as  the  home  of  the  late  Dea. 
Simmons  Laws. 

The  old  farm-house  owned  and  occupied  by  Edmund 
Homan  was  a  fashionable  cottage  in  1800  ;  and  Nathaniel 
Tuthill's  store-house  another  goodly  dwelling.  A  few  rods 
north  of  V.  R.  Sweezy's  residence  stood  an  old  store  and 
dwelling  attached,  owned  and  kept  by  the  aifable  Jonah 
Hawkins.  The  frame  was  removed  and  is  now  Mr.  Swee- 
zy's carriage-house.  Deeply  imbedded  in  an  old  beam  in 
that  frame  is  the  bullet  that  hurled  John  Sweezy  into  a 
suicide's  grave.  He  was  D.  D.  and  V.  R.  Sweezy's  uncle, 
and  a  brother  of  the  notorious  Christopher  Sweezy. 

Near  by  Robert  Hawkins'  domicile,  where  the  public 
road  is  now  established,  stood  another  old  land-mark. 
Northward  nestled  what  is  now  the  Sell's  estate.  Still 
farther  toward  the  Polar  Star  was  another  ancient  habita- 
tion. There  Daniel  Hammond  dwelt  and  reared  a  sturdy 
family  of  giants — among  them  the  famous  John. 

Next  in  order  comes  tlie  old  Homan  homestead — an 
estate  owned  by  the  justly  popular  Esquire  Mordecai 
Homan,  arid  by  the  Homan  family,  for  over  two  hundred 
years.  There  the  old  'Squire  conducted  the  financial  affairs 
of  Brookhaven  Town  for  forty-two  years.  There  a  large 
family  grew  up  around  him,  and  there  his  spirit  passed  into 
eternal  rest.  Three  more  dwellings  stood  upon  the  Homan 
estate,  and  with  probably  one  or  two  unnoticed  in  the  vi- 
cinity, Yaphank — in  1800 — was  a  farming  settlement  of  about 
twenty  houses. 


YAPHANK  MILLS  AND  THEIR  HISTORY. 

THE  OLD   GRANTS — WHY  YAPHANK  WAS  NOT  A  LOWELL  AND 
ROCHESTER    COMBINED. 

THE  OLD   GRANTS. 

The  people  who  daily  gaze  upon  these  stately  old  struc- 
tures, hardly  realize  the  great  metamorphosis  they  have 
passed  through. 

Sturdy  men  bore  the  grists  of  the  old-time  tillers  of  the 
surrounding  farms,  and  the  same  pretty  lakes  carried  the 
groaning'stones  for  our  forefathers  in  the  eighteenth  century. 

The  upper  mills  were  first  erected,  and  were  built  by  a 
Capt.  Robert  Robinson,  in  1739.  In  the  old  Town  Record 
of  Brookhaven  is  recorded  the  following  Grant  for  the  UP- 
PER MILLS  : 

"At  a  meeting  of  the  Trustees  of  Brookhaven  Town,  on 
the  12th  of  February,  1739,  there  were  present,  Capt. 
Robert  Robinson,  Samuel  Thompson,  Eleazer  Hawkins, 
John  Smith,  Richard  Floyd,  Thomas  Strong,  and  Nathaniel 
Roe.  It  was  voted  and  agreed  on  and  granted  by  the  Trus- 
tees of  the  Town,  that  Capt.  Robert  Robinson  shall  have 
liberty  to  build  a  mill  or  mills  on  Connecticut  River,  above 
the  going-over,  where  William  Gerard  now  lives,  at  any 
place  where  he  shall  think  convenient;  and  we,  the  said 
Trustees,  do  confirm  unto  the  said  Robert  Robinson, 
and  his  heirs,  forever,  the  full  benefit  of  the  said  river — 
that  is  to  say,  the  Town's  right  for  the  above  said  use — for 
the  consideration  of  six  shillings.  To  us  in  hand  paid  ;  and 
if  he  or  his  heirs  shall  improve  the  same,  and  build  a  mill 
or  mills  thereon,  within  the  space  of  six  years,  or  in  some 


FACTS   AND   FANCIES.  l77 

convenient  space  of  time  after.     Otherwise,  to  return  to  said 
Town." 

Twenty-three  years  afterwards  John  Homan  applied  for 
and  received  a  grant  to  erect  a  saw  mill  about  one  mile  be- 
low. The  following  is  a  fac- simile  in  words  of  the  grant 
given  to  John  Homan  for  the  privilege  to  build  a  saw  mill 
in  Lower  Yaphank,  in  1762  : 

"At  the  Town  Meeting  on  the  1st  day  of  Nov.,  1762, 
the  Trustees  then  present,  voted  and  agreed  that  John 
Homan  shall  have  liberty  to  build  a  saw  mill  on  Connecti- 
cut River,  below  his  house,  adjoining  to  his  land  ;  but  not 
to  prejudice  or  hinder  the  going  of  the  Upper  Mill  in  any 
manner,  for  the  sum  of  forty  shillings. 

"  But  not  to  build  any  grist  mill  thereon  without  the  leave 
and  order  of  the  Trustees.  And  the  said  John  Homan  doth 
agree  and  bind  himself,  his  heirs  and  assignees,  to  build  a 
good  and  sufficient  saw  mill  thereon,  within  the  space  of 
three  years  from  this  date ;  and  to  keep  the  same  in  good 
and  sufficient  repair,  and  to  saw  at  the  rates  of  other  saw 
mills  ;  and  upon  the  whole  arid  faithful  performance  of  the 
above  conditions,  then  the  stream  thereto  to  remain  to  him 
and  his  heirs.  But,  if  any  failure  be  made  in  the  full  and 
complete  performance  of  the  above  conditions,  or  any  part 
thereof,  then  this  agreement  to  be  void,  and  the  whole 
promises  to  return  and  be  again  vested  in  the  Trustees  and 
their  successors  as  fully  as  if  this  agreement  was  never 
made. 

"  And  the  said  John  Homan  has  liberty,  also,  to  build  a 
fulling  mill  thereon,  if  he  sees  fit,  upon  the  same  conditions 
and  limits." 

In  1771,  the  same  gentleman  received  a  grant  to  build  a 
grist  mill  near  or  upon  the  same  dam  with  his  saw- mill  ; 
and  in  the  old  Record  is  found  the  following  curious  restric- 
tions and  conditions  of  the  grant : 

..  .  "At  a  meeting  of  the  Trustees  on  the  4th  day  of  February, 
1771,  there  were  present,   Jonathan  Thompson,   Benajiah 
Strong,  William  Floyd,  Eleazer  Hawkins,  Richard  Wood- 
is 


178  FACTS    AND   FANCIES. 

hull,  and  Joseph  Brewster.  At  this  meeting  the  said 
Trustees  covenanted  and  agreed  with  Daniel  Homan — that 
is  to  say,  have  granted  and  given  liberty  on  their  part, 
unto  the  said  Daniel  Homan,  and  to  his  heirs  and  assignees, 
that  he  or  they  may  build  a  grist  mill  on  the  same  stream, 
and  at  the  place  or  dam  where  his  saw  mill  now  stands, 
with  the  conditions  and  restrictions  following:  That  the 
said  Daniel  Homan  shall  complete  the  said  mill  for  grind- 
ing, within  the  space  of  two  years  from  this  date  ;  and  also 
after  that  time,  shall  keep  an  approved  miller,  and  also  the 
said  Homan  shall  take  for  toll  three  quarts  and  no  more, 
out  of  each  bushel  of  all  sorts  of  grain  which  he  or  they 
may  grind  from  time  to  time.  Also,  he  shall  always  keep 
a  bolting  mill  with  a  good  country  cloth,  always  to  be 
freely  used  by  those  who  have  their  grain  ground  at  his 
mill. 

"And,  if  the  said  Homan  doth  make  default  in  the 
above  agreement  and  covenant,  then  this  above  agreement 
and  grant  shall  be  void,  and  the  same  shall  return  to  the 
Town  and  be  the  same  as  if  it  had  not  been  granted.  In 
witness  thereof,  I  have  set  my  hand  of  day  and  date  as 
above  written. 

"  DANIEL  HOMAN." 

WHY  YAPHANK  WAS  NOT  A  LOWELL  AND  A  ROCHESTER. 

Connected  with  the  Lower  Mills  is  ail  interesting  history. 
Yaphank  would  have  certainly  been  a  Lowell  and  a 
Rochester  had  James  Weeks  and  William  Sidney  Smith 
carried  out  their  scheme. 

While  the  Long  Island  Railroad  was  being  built,  the 
grain  crops  all  over  the  country  were  failures,  and  wheat 
and  other  staple  produce  were  imported  from  Germany  and 
other  European  nations. 

Messrs.  Weeks  and  Smith  purchased  the  Lower  Mills  of 
old  Robert,  Hawkins,  in  1836,  and  began  what  they  should 
have  terminated. 


.FACTS   AND   FANCIES.  179 

The  failures  of  the  grain  crops,  and  Messrs.  Weeks'  and 
Smith's  influence  in  the  building  of  the  railroad,  originated 
their  scheme. 

They  intended  to  bring  the  railroad  in  direct  connection 
with  their  mills,  import  wheat  from  Germany,  grind  it  into 
flour  at  their  mill,  and  transport  it  by  the  railroad  over  the 
Island  and  country. 

To  make  Yaphank  a  Lowell,  they  built  a  woolen  factory 
near  their  other  mills,  and  again  began  what  they 
should  have  terminated.  Why  Yaphank  is  not  a  Lowell 
and  a  Rochester,  is  because  Messrs.  Smith  and  Weeks  did 
not  make  it  so ! 


V. 
OUR  DIMINUTIVE  YALE. 

THE    YAPHANK   DISTRICT    SCHOOL     AND     ITS    HISTORY — THE 
SCHOOL-HOUSE — PAST   AND  PRESENT. 

THE   SCHOOL-HOUSE. 

This  neat  little  octagonal  building,  with  its  pretty  obser- 
vatory as  an  apex,  stands  lonely  and  unadorned  in  an  open, 
unenclosed  lot,  opposite  the  residence  of  Doc.  James  I. 
Baker. 

Around  and  within  it  are  the  indelible  marks  of  the 
ruthless  propensities  of  Young  America. 

The  village  school-house  !  How  meagre  and  unsensa- 
tional  seems  the  name  of  those  thousands  of  isolated  repos- 
itories of  learning  that  sparkle  in  the  quiet  valleys,  on  the 
wooded  hill- sides,  and  on  the  plains  of  our  boundless  Home 
of  the  Free  !  How  many  shouts  of  genuine  happiness,  and 
peals  of  healthy  laughter,  have  echoed  from  those  cabins  of 
youthful  struggles. 

How  fondly  we  all — but  boys  and  girls  of  larger  growth 
—cherish  the  memories  of  our  school  days  !  How  the  heart 
is  stirred  when  the  recollections  of  those  pleasant  hours 
bring  back  to  us  the  merry  voices  of  playmates  who  now 
are  sleeping  the  long,  long  sleep  ;  and  whose  paths  of 
pleasure,  and  school-books  torn  and  defaced,  are  forever 
forgotten  in  that  golden  Mansion  of  harps  and  sweet 
rewards  ! 

How  the  unbidden  tears  trickle  down  our  cheeks  as  we 
stand,  in  memory,  by  the  little  grave  of  a  dear  playmate, 
who  laid  down  his  books  to  die !  and  how  silently  the  tears 


PACTS   AND   FANCIES.  181 

are  vanished  by  the  recollections  of  the  many  boyish  bat- 
tles of  those  pugnacious  followers  of  the  "elementary' 
Webster  ! 

How  we  smile  as  we  again  ''stand  at  the  head  of  the 
class,"  or  sullenly  walk  down  the  narrow  aisle,  and  shud- 
der at  the  stern  command  to  "  hold  out  your  hand,  sir  !" 

How  clearly  the  roguish  faces  we  saw  on  the  "last  day 
of  school"  are  transformed  into  a  panorama  of  inter- 
mingled joy  and  sorrow  !  and  how  distinctly  we  saw  in  the 
boy  and  girl  the  coming  man  and  woman. 

Why  should  one  speak  in  scornful  depreciation  of  a 
country  school-house  ?  Do  we  ever  stop  to  think,  in  these 
times  of  costly  colleges  and  institutions  of  classical  refine- 
ment, that  men  whose  appellations  are  written  in  letters 
of  living  fire,  and  whose  names  will  never  be  forgotten,  once 
carved  with  the  traditional  jack-knife  the  rude  outlines  of 
those  self -same  names  upon  the  rough  walls  of  a  log 
school- house  ? 

Do  we  ever  stop  to  consider,  in  these  days  of  Yale  honors 
and  Harvard  laurels,  whether  the  edifice  makes  the  man, 
or  the  college  course  the  true  gentleman  ? 

Will  my  friends  in  Yaphank  accept  the  flattery,  when  I 
assure  them,  that  the  noble  father  of  their  country — Gen. 
George  Washington — never  threw  spit-balls  within  as 
"grand  a  room,"  or  stole  kisses  from  the  attending  belles 
of  as  "nice"  a  school  as  we  have  in  Yaphank  '2 

It  is  a  false  conception  the  lads  and  lassies  of  modern 
times  maintain,  when  they  believe  that  architectural  gran- 
deur is  the  favored  producer  of  superior  intellect ;  and  as 
everything — ever  so  humble  may  it  be — has  a  history,  I 
shall  endeavor  to  give  the  one  coherent  with  the 

YAPHANK  DISTRICT  SCHOOL-HOUSE--  PAST  AND  PRESENT. 

For  many,  many  years,  the  young  ideas  of  the  past 
generations  struggled  to  master  the  rustic  classics  in  a  little, 
red-paiiited,  boxed-up  shanty,  bearing  the  half  admissible 


182  FACTS    AND   FANCIES. 

name  of  a  school-house,  that  stood  alone  in  an  old  field  in 
the  almost  extreme  upper  part  of  Upper  Yaphank. 

There  old  'Squire  Mordecai  Homan  once  "ruled  up" 
the  aggravating  delinquencies  of  his  home-spun  pupils,  and 
there  William  C.  Booth  and  Brewster  Saxton  explained  the 
mysteries  of  the  half-explored  globe.  There  William  J. 
Weeks  left  the  head-lights  of  his  boyish  propensities. 
There  J.  P.  Mills,  the  acknowledged  Governor  and  pomp- 
ous potentate,  engraved  the  transplendent  star  of  his  dry- 
o-oods  and  hardware  fame,  in  the  outlines  of  the  dim  one  his 

o  • 

father  carved  before  him.  There  Richard  S.  Homan  and 
Noah  T.  Sweezy,  the  former  now  dead,  but  both  once 
prominent  New  York  merchants,  jumped  the  whirling  rope 
and  kissed  the  village  belles.  Indeed,  nearly  every  old 
gentleman  now  living  in  Yaphank,  and  many  that  have 
gone  down  the  sunset-way,  and  many  that  have  made 
bright  names  in  the  world,  took  their  initiatory  step  in 
education  in  that  old  school-house. 

Generations  grew  up,  arid  the  advance  of  railroads  and 
science  advanced  the  tastes  of  the  people.  In  1856  the  dear 
old  ship  that  had  borne  so  many  minds  out  of  the  breakers 
of  ignorance  into  the  sea  of  knowledge  was  abandoned  as  a 
landmark  of  old  times,  and  a  new  and  very  convenient 
building  was  erected  in  Central  Yaphank. 

A  prime  mover  in  its  erection  was  William  J.  Weeks, 
Esq.,  who,  although  he  suffered  much  opposition  in  the 
movement,  at  last  achieved  his  praiseworthy  object.  The 
busts  of  Washington,  Franklin,  Webster  and  Clay  embel- 
lish the  walls  of  the  school-room,  and  were  presented  by 
Mr.  Weeks. 

Mr.  Weeks  has  in  his  possession  a  vast  amount  of  man- 
uscript matter  pertaining  to  the  district  affairs,  written  and 
compiled  during  the  school  war  of  1854,  '55  and  '56.  The 
children  were  getting  education  under  difficulties.  Mr. 
Weeks  took  more  interest  in  their  welfare  than  did  their 
parents.  He  suffered  abuse  because  he  wished  the  district 


FACTS   AND   FANCIES. 

to  abandon  the  old  shell  of  a  house  that  stood  "conveni- 
ently out  of  the  way,"  and  build  the  neat  and  attractive 
one  that  hard  work,  and  plenty  of  it  on  his  part,  at  last 
erected  for  them.  Who  thanks  him  ? 


VI. 
YAPHANK  CEMETERY  ASSOCIATION. 

MAKE   MY  GRAVE   IN   THE   WILDWOOD — WHY  ABE  OUR  DEAD 
PROMISCUOUSLY   BURIED? — AN   ABSOLUTE   REQUIREMENT. 

MAKE    MY   GRAVE   IN  THE   WILDWOOD. 

are  words  that  never  will  be  heard  from  the  dying  lips  of 
the  most  romantic  in  the  coming  age  of  splendid  cemeteries. 

The  poet  Percival  may  slumber  sweetly  in  his  lonely 
grave  at  Hazel  Green,  Wis.,  with  only  an  evergreen  to 
mark  his  resting-place,  and  Edgar  A.  Poe  lie  tranquil  and 
calm  in  an  unmarked  grave,  but  the  coming  poet  will  never 
die  happily  without  the  important  assurance  that  the  awful 
vault  and  pale  marble  will  characterize  the  solemnities  of 
his  remembrance. 

The  living  fashionables  who  love  to  sleep  in  the  city^  while 
in  life,  as  a  counterpart,  wish  to  sleep  in  the  "  city  of  the 
deap"  when  they  roll  up  the  warp  of  life  ;  and  a  weeping 
willow  over  a  lone  grave  in  the  quiet  valley  has  no  charm 
for  the  repose  of  their  decaying  mortality. 

The  old-time  usages  of  burying  the  dead,  and  the  manner 
in  which  they  were  distributed,  causes  us  to  exclaim  : 

HOW   LONG   WILL    OUR    DEAD    BE   PROMISCUOUSLY    BURIED? 

In  Yaphank  there  are  over  half  a  dozen  burying 
plots.  Some  are  family  grounds,  and  some  are  moss-cov- 
ered remnants  of  a  broken-down  church.  Here  and  there 
by  the  road-side,  and  in  the  deeper  secludes,  lay  the  sleep- 
ing dead. 


PACTS   AND   FANCIES.  185 

It^was  an 

ABSOLUTE   REQUIREMENT, 

when  the  cemetery  movement  began  in  Yaphank,  and  to 
the  founders  of  the  Association — although  many  declared  it 
but  a  speculation — is  due  much  praise  for  their  thoughtful 
enterprise  and  consideration. 

It  was    organized  according  to   Statute  in   1870.      Six 

Trustees  were  elected,  viz. :    John  Hammond,  Alfred  Ack- 

erly,  Samuel  Smith,  John  P.  Mills,  Sylvester  Homan,  and 

ponies  I.  Baker.     Sylvester  Homan  was  elected  President, 

John  P.  Mills  Treasurer,  and  James  I.  Baker  Secretary. 

They  are  so  classified  that  two  Trustees  are  elected  every 
year.  Four  acres  of  land  were  purchased  at  a  cost  of  about 
five  hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  The  object  of  the  Associa- 
tion is  to  make  a  permanent  burial-place,  free  from  denom- 
ination or  church  ;  also,  that  plots  could  be  purchased  and 
controlled,  which  is  prohibited  in  church-yards. 

A  neat,  substantial  fence  has  been  erected,  and  as  the 
funds  increase,  the  grounds  are  to  be  ornamented  and 
made  attractive. 

Every  person  purchasing  a  lot  becomes  a  member,  and 
consequently  enjoys  a  voice  in  its  proceedings.  No  profits 
can  accrue  to  any  individual  member,  but  be  used  in  grad- 
ing, fencing,  &c.,  or  be  invested  by  the  Association  as  per 
Revised  Statute  relating  to  Rural  Cemeteries. 


VII. 
TEMPERANCE  IN  YAPHANK. 

THE  NOBLE  CAUSE  AND   ITS  SUSTAINERS — A  BRIEF  SKETCH. 
THE   NOBLE   CAUSE   AND   ITS   SUSTAINERS. 

Early  in  the  Fall  of  1872,  a  movement  was  started  by 
some  enthusiastics  to  found  an  order  in  Y . 

The  foes  of  the  bottle  besieged  the  philanthropy  of  our 
church  supporters,  and  begged  sympathy  and  assistance. 
The  young  indefatigables  read  the  reports  of  the  extent  of 
the  good  work  in  neighboring  villages,  and  soon  became 
stirred  into  the  preternatural  longing  to  unfurl  the  same 
glorious  pennant  over  this  obscure  home  of — not  decidedly 
unquestionable  "spirits." 

The  pillars  of  the  church  were  absolutely  conservative. 
Its  supporters,  with  bank  accounts  amounting  to  many 
thousands,  were  too  poor  (?)  to  experiment  in  nonsensical 
undertakings,  and  no  sunbeams  ever  fell  from  that  quarter. 
Everywhere  rang  the  war  cry  of  temperance.  The  warriors 
of  "  spiritual  peace "  were  digging  up  the  tomahawks  of 
total  abstinence,  and  were  laying  the  corner-stones  of  sobri- 
ety in  every  hamlet  and  village  around  us ;  but  no  "red 
war  on  red  wine''  was  begun  in  Yaphank. 

Were  we  to  be  ever  exempt  from  the  allurements  of  the 
fiery  fiend  ?  Were  our  sons  to  go  out  into  the  world  with 
the  bad  example  of  Christians  as  their  "  cloud  of  fire  ?" 

The  rumsellers  smiled  upon  us,  and  the  habitual  drunk- 
ard gave  us  the  hand  of  reformation,  but  Christians  refused 
us  aid  !  The  men  who  humbled  themselves  in  prayer,  and 
whose  hopes  were  beyond  "the  things  of  earth,"  stood 


PACTS  AND  FANCIES.  187 

aloof  and  smilingly  predicted  failure.  Sneers  and  jeers 
echoed  from  lips  wet  with  the  "  dews  of  Heaven,"  and  tem- 
perance received  an  unwelcome  greeting  in  the  precincts  of 
Christianity. 

Our  young  people — God  bless  them — organized,  and  be- 
gan the  slow,  tedious  march,  unaided  by  mature  minds. 
They  added  their  link  to  the  great  fraternal  chain,  and  be- 
gan drawing  the  fallen  from  the  pits  of  drunken  degrada- 
tion. They  clasped  hearts  and  hands  of  commiseration 
with  other  orders,  and  avowed  themselves  champions  of  a 
truly  great  cause. 

The  good  ones  guarded  the  contribution  box  to  the  in- 
terest of  the  "Missionary  Fund,"  and  cheerfully  sent  aid 
and  healing  balms  to  the  far-off  South  Sea  Islands. 

Dear  reader  !  can  it  be  that  they  paused  to  think  of  the 
^broken  homes,  the  broken  hearts,  and  the  broken  ties  rum 
was  rearing  up  around  them ''.  Can  it  be  that  they  heard 
the  cries  of  the  innocent  ones  that  were  hurled  into  the  cold, 
cold  world  to  fight  its  battles  alone  \  Could  they  have 
heard  the  widows'  lamentations  and  the  orphans'  cries  that 
arose  in  their  midst,  when  they  poured  out  the  "milk  of 
human  kindness  "  for  untamed  and  unappreciating  heathens 
in  the  far-off  Indies  ?  No,  it  cannot  be  !  It  cannot  be  that 
these  followers  of  the  "only  true  and  living"  thus  de- 
nounced the  cause  unworthy,  and  its  sustainers  unscrupu- 
lous, after  earnest  meditation  ! 

It  must  have  been  a  prejudice  against  moral  improve- 
ment, or  an  hereditary  inclination  to  sleep  the  sleep  of  tra- 
ditionary Rip  Van  Winkle,  that  caused  their  wicked  oppo- 
sition ;  for  we  don't  find  them  among  the  Rumsellers' 
Union,  or  among  the  mass  of  bloated  sots . 

Temperance  !  ah  !  what  has  it  done  ? 

It  has  torn  down  old  breweries  and  drinking  hells,  and 
unfurled  the  stainless  flag  over  polluted  sod  !  It  has  made 
thousands  of  homes  happy  and  peaceful,  and  gladdened 
thousands  of  broken  hearts !  It  has  dried  the  widow's 
tears  and  hushed  the  orphan's  cries!  It  has  hurled  its 


186  FACTS    AND    FANCIES. 

\ 

shafts  of  conviction  through  tavern  windows,  and  snatched 
that  buyer  and  seller  of  human  souls  from  behind  his  glit- 
tering vases  of  deadly  poisons,  penitent  and  reformed  be- 
fore the  world  !  Temperance  has  done  all  this  !  aye,  more  ! 
and  yet  the  high  and  good  worked  detrimental  to  the 
cause ! 

Do  they  term  it  a  Christian  spirit?  Do  they  believe  God 
will  uphold  them  ?  No  !  Temperance  is  a  humane  cause. 
The  Bible  tells  them  so,  their  each  conscience  tells  them  so, 
and  their  observation  confirms  it  all. 

Without  it,  America  with  her  vaunted  power  and  wealth, 
would  follow  imperial  Rome  and  down-trodden  Ireland,  and 
the  fate  of  every  town  would  eventually  be  the  fate  of  an- 
cient Babylon. 

It  was  not  my  intention  to  give  my  readers  a  temperance 
lecture,  when  I  began  ;  thus  I  will  forbear  ere  I  weary  my 
patient  reader  with  superfluous  additions  to  an  historical 
sketch  of  Division  No.  73.  The  public  is  our  jury,  and 
you,  dear  reader,  must  officiate  as  your  own  judge.  You 
can  easily  define  the  spirit  that  rules  Yaphank,  and  as 
easily  picture  the  obstacles  that  always  obstruct  our 
way  to  improvement. 

But  after  much  trouble,  expecting  aid  where  we  only  re- 
ceived jeers  and  opposition,  it  has  steadily  moved  into  the 
brilliant  ranks  of  the  noble  army,  and  at  last  throws  out  a 
beacon-light  to  guide  the  "reeling"  ships  safe  over  the 
Bottle  Rocks,  with  forty  enthusiastic,  hard-working  mem 
bers  to  defend  against  the  taunts  of  the  foe,  and  to  keep 
ever  brighter  the  Heaven-directing  beacon. 

A   BRIEF   SKETCH. 

In  March,  1873,  the  first  officers  were  duly  installed  by 
E.  H.  Hopkins,  Grand  Scribe  of  Eastern  Grand  Division  of 
New  York,  and  P.  G.  VV.  P.  William  T.  Parsons.  The 
order  was  instituted  in  the  main  body  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  and  from  the  15th  of  that  month  temperance  has 
been  a  bright  reality  in  Yaphank. 


FACTS   AND    FANCIES.  189 

From  March  15th,  1873,  until  April  1st,  1874,  the  meet- 
ings were  held  in  the  basement  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
when  an  unpleasantness  arose  between  certain  members  of 
both  societies,  and  the  Division  was  compelled  to  vacate  the 
bricked-up  repository  of  goodness. 

Until  July  14th,  1874,  the  homes  of  members  were  abiding 
places,  when,  through  the  influence  of  the  Worthy  Patri- 
arch then  elected,  and  the  kindness  of  Doc.  James  I.  Baker, 
o  mmodious  Baptist  Church  was  secured  as  a  hall.  The 
church  was  moved  to  Comsewogue  soon  after,  and  the  Divi- 
sion was  again  "  adrift  I'1  The  inhospitality  of  Yaphank  is 
plainly  apparent  when  it  is  obviously  known  that  people 
don't  only  "  leave  the  place,"  but  take  their  houses  too. 

ROSWELL   V.    DAVIS. 

This  much-esteemed  young  man,  who,  by  the  way,  is  an 
untiring  temperance  man,  has  engraved  his  name  and  mem 
ory  in  his  many  indelible  deeds  of  kindness,  on  the  hearts 
of  all  who  are  fortunate  enough  to  have  made  his  acquaint- 
ance. 'Tis  the  moral  worth  of  a  true  man  that  endears  Ros- 
well  Davis  to  his  friends,  for  he  has  no  foes.  May  his  sky 
never  darken,  may  the  flowers  ever  bloom  in  his  pathway 
through  life,  and  may  he  ever  find  friends  in  those  he  has 
befriended.  God  bless  his  efforts  ! 

The  following  are  the  names  of  all  the  W.  Ts.  and  R.  Ss. 
who  have  officiated  since  the  date  of  organization,  March 
15th,  1873: 

TBBM.    WOUTIIY  PATRIARCHS.        1873.  TERM.  RECORDING  SCRIBES. 


1st. — ALFRED  REID,  Jr. 
2d. —  CHARLES  W.  TRAIN. 
3d. —  R.  E.  HAMMOND. 
4th.— S.  F.  HOMAN. 


1st.-  W.  H.  REID. 


3d.—  A.  E.  REID. 
4th.—  ADDIK  E.  TRAIN. 


No.  Charter  Members 11 

No.  Initiations . .  24 


190  FACTS    AND    FANCIES. 

TKRM.    WORTHY  PATRIARCHS.         1874.  TERM.  RECORDING  SCRIBES. 


5th. — CHARLKS  W.  TRAIN. 
6th.— Doc.  E.  H.  S.  HOLDEN. 
7th. — ROSWELL  V.  DAVIS. 
8th. — L.  BEECHER  HOMAN. 


5th.— A.  E.  REID. 
6th.— "    "       " 
7th.—"    "       " 
8th.--"    "       " 


No.   Initiated . .  14 

No.  Expelled 1 

No.    Withdrawn 3 

No.  Members 45 


VIII. 
OUR  RELIGIOUS  HOMES. 

THE  CENTRES   OP   CHRISTIANITY   IN    YAPHANK — THEIR    HIS- 
TORY,   ETC. 

What  would  the  world  be  without  its  sanctuaries  and 
Sabbath-schools?  How^long  would  our  laws  be  enforced 
and  decorum  sustained,  if  it  were  not  for  God's  temples 
that  dot  the  land  ?  Men  would  trample  each  other  down  in 
the  great  struggle  for  wealth  and  position,  and  women 
would  become  crazy  in  the  hot-beds  of  vanity  and  vice, 
fashion  and  frivolity.  Christianity  is  the  great  barrier  that 
keeps  our  lusts  within  control,  and  that  curbs  our  wild 
passions  for  emoluments  and  glory. 

Men  and  women  love  to  have  a  place  where  they  can  as- 
semble together  and  exchange  the  whirl  and  excitements  of 
the  race  for  wealth  and  fame,  for  the  nourishing  and  solid 
food  that  so  stimulates  the  crazed  mind  and  wearied  body. 

Six  days  of  bustle  and  trade  upon  the  streets  and  in  the 
marts  causes  the  reasonable  minds  to  pause  on  the  seventh, 
and  exclaim:  "  How  hard  would  be  the  drudgery  of  life 
if  it  were  not  for  the  sweet  rest  and  sweeter  words  God 
gives  us  on  the  Sabbath  ! " 

How  the  tired  man  and  jaded  beast  must  love  the  peal- 
ing Sabbath  bells  ;  and  how  sweet  the  voices  of  God's  ser- 
vants must  break  upon  the  ear  as  they  pour  out  the  cheer- 
ing nectar,  that  the  business  world  may  sip  and  gather  up 
strength  for  the  six  toilsome  days  that  surely  come. 

Thus  it  is  the  sanctuary — where  the  bread  of  life  is  broken 
and  where  the  burdened  heart  is  relieved — that  makes  us 
respect  the  laws  of  the  land,  arid  causes  us  to  turn  our  eyes 


192  FACTS   AND   FANCIES. 

from  the  fading  things  of  life  and  toward  the  great  inevit- 
able and  Him  who  so  wisely  vouchsafed  to  man,  a  day  and 
place  to  change  and  cheer  his  heart. 

THE  YAPHANK  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH. 

The  Presbyterian  Church,  at  Yaphank,  was  erected  in 
the  year  of  our  Lord  1851,  by  the  Presbyterian  Society  of 
Yaphank. 

Our  people  must  have  had  an  understanding  of  the  sim- 
plicity of  true  religion  when  they  modeled  and  erected  their 
little  temple  of  worship.  As  God  came  not  in  the  whirl- 
wind, but  in  the  still,  small  voice,  why  would  He  not  meet 
and  commune  with  them  in  their  fifteen-hundred-dollar 
church,  although  no  frescoed  walls  reflected  his  brilliancy  ? 

God  has  visited  us  ;  notwithstanding  our  wickedness  as  a 
people ;  although  so  many  profess  a  Godly  life,  and  fall  far 
short  of  a  Christian  reformation,  God  has  not  forsaken  us. 
For  many  years  the  prayers  of  our  good  people  ascended 
up  against  the  mighty.  Revivals  were  sustained  and  en- 
joyed, and  the  good  work  ,  went  grandly  forward.  The 
times  were  becoming  faster.  Steam  usurped  dull-edged 
tools,  and  hovels  were  transformed  into  palatial  mansions. 
Was  it  not  natural,  then,  that  our  good  people  began  to 
look  upon  their  box-like  house  of  worship  with  disgust,  and 
to  sigh  for  that  conical  connection  necessary  to  all  similar 
structures — a  steeple? 

I  am  not  aware  that  the  towering  spire  looks  down  upon 
more  sincere  worshippers,  or  upon  a  more  happy  and  Godly 
place.  I  do  not  believe  the  prayers  are  offered  more  fer- 
vently or  more  impressively  because  our  good  Samaritans 
erected  a  miniature  Babel  that  points  heavenward.  But,  I 
do  believe  that  the  aristocratic  vanity  of  the  Presbyterian 
Society  was  somewhat  appeased  when  the  first  peal  from 
the  bell  in  the  little  tower  rang  o'er  the  wooded  hills  that 
surround  our  village,  and  the  weather-cock  first  revolved  to 
the  four  winds  of  Heaven. 


FACTS    AND   FANCIES.  193 

In  1851  the  church  was  dedicated  by  the  Rev.  Ezra  King 
and  Winthrop  Bayles  ;  and  Winthrop  Bayles  then  pre- 
sided over  the  church,  and  enrolled  his  name  among 

THE   CLERGYMEN   OF  THE   CHURCH 

that  have  officiated  since  its  erection.  After  Mr.  Bayles' 
retirement  came  Francis  Drake.  Mr.  Drake  was  an  ener- 
getic, whole-souled,  working  Christian,  and  tinmurmur- 
ingly  sacrificed  his  health  and  happiness  in  favor  of  ecclesi- 
astical progress. 

Cruel  was  the  abuse  he  suffered  from  the  men  that  then 
were  a  terror  to  the  whole  Christian  community.  Long 
nights  he  sleeplessly  passed  in  fear  and  anxiety,  knowing 
not  when  the  wild  whoops  of  enemies  would  echo  from  the 
gloom.  His  nights  were  passed  in  dread,  and  his  days 
were  never  happy  after  his  foes  began  their  persecutions. 
In  his  home  they  abused  him,  and  upon  the  street  they 
never  ceased  to  annoy.  His  brow  became  furrowed  with 
trouble,  and  his  jokes  were  never  as  pointed  after  that  or- 
deal of  fear. 

What  had  he  done  that  he  deserved  the  abuse  <  What 
was  the  magnitude  of  his  crime  that  his  actions  had  stirred 
the  ire  of  those  that  pursued  him  ? 

The  blow  to  his  nervous  system  was  severe,  and  lie  never 
recovered.  In  the  West  he  went  to  preach,  and  in  the 
West  he  died.  In  the  service  of  his  Master  he  was  stricken 
down,  and  in  the  cemetery  at  Southold,  L.  I.,  he  calmly 
sleeps.  No  more  will  he  tremble  with  fear,  and  no  more  will 
the  taunts  of  foes  break  his  slumbers.  While  the  perse- 
cutors are  still  unsummoned,  the  flowers  bloom  o'er  the 
grave  of  the  martyred  Drake — a  true  disciple  while  on  earth, 
and  a  bright  star  in  heaven. 

CHARLES  STURGES. 

Charles  Sturges  was  next  called  to  expound  the  biblical 
consequences  of  sin,  and  to  fill  the  place  vacated  by  the  la- 
mented Drake. 

13 


194  FACTS    AND   FANCIES. 

Different  in  habits,  different  in  taste,  and  heterogeneous 
in  preaching,  was  the  slow,  unenthusiastic  Sturges  from  the 
restless,  ambitious  and  eloquent  Drake. 

Mr.  Sturges  preached  mechanically  ;  Mr.  Drake  preached 
inspiringly.  Both  were  Christian  men,  and  both  labored  to 
achieve  the  one  grand  object — the  diffusing  of  true  religion. 
One  was  impulsive,  and  sometimes  indiscreet,  and  the  other 
calculating  and  slow.  One  was  allowed  to  groan  in  the 
toils  of  persecution,  and  the  other  to  pray -out  his  religious 
engagement  upon  a  tranquil  bosom. 

Mr.  Stnrges  came  among  us  with  a  glowing  record  of 
well-doing  as  a  missionary  in  the  lands  of  religious  dark- 
ness. He  had  entered  the  homes  of  bigoted  idolatry,  and 
in  their  primitive  veneration  of  hewn  gods,  had  touched 
and  turned  the  poor  heathen's  heart.  God  nourished  the 
seed  he  sowed,  and  Doc.  Sturgis  was  welcomed  to  the  can- 
nibal's home  as  an  angel  sent  by  the  only  true  Great  Spirit 
to  soothe  their  spiritual  woes,  and  force  the  scales  from 
their  eyes.  With  this  bright  recommendation  as  a  minis- 
tering angel,  he  came  to  "  our  little  church  in  the  wild 
wood." 

He  remained  until  the  mother  church  began  an  aggres- 
sive movement,  and  until  the  holy  bonds  that  had  long 
held  the  two  together,  were  severed  by  mutual  consent, 
when  he  sought  pastures  green  and  waters  still  up  in  the 
mountains  of  the  Empire  State  ;  and  that  old  revivalist  and 
veteran  soldier  of  the  cross, 

CLARK  LOCKWOOD, 

brought  us  the  "Balm  from  Gilead." 

Mr.  Lockwood  is  still  as  anxious,  still  as  faithful,  and 
more  engaged  in  the  field  he  has  chosen,  than  ever  before 
marked  his  success. 

God  also  suffered  this  good  man  to  pass  through  the  fur- 
nace of  slander,  and,  like  his  predecessor,  Drake,  to  be  the 
victim  of  a  jealous  intrigue. 


FACTS   AND    FANCIES.  195 

He  is  known  all  over  the  Island  as  a  free-thinking,  inde- 
pendent Christian,  and  far  have  his  triumphs  extended, 
and  many  a  weary  heart  has  he  made  glad. 

So  earnest  and  devont,  so  kind  and  careful  in  all  his  ex- 
amples, he  is,  and  ever  will  be  respected,  honored,  and 
cherished  while  he  remains  the  pastor  of  the  Yaphank 
Presbyterian  Church. 

With  these  brief  remarks  regarding  the  Presbyterian 
Church  and  the  pastors  who  have  officiated  since  its  erec- 
tion, I  hope  my  friends  will  be  content. 

ST.  ANDREW'S  CHURCH. 

THE    BISHOP'S    ADDKKSS — A    CONTRAST   TO-DAY. 

This  beautiful  little  edifice  is  situated  in  the  eastern  part 
of  the  village,  adjoining  Mr.  James  H.  Weeks'  property. 
Through  the  instrumentality  of  this  estimable  gentleman 
and  his  wife— who,  for  many  years  previously,  were  the  only 
witnesses  of  the  church  in  the  whole  of  the  church  district 
lying  around  Yaphank — the  building  itself  was  erected. 
The  death  of  a  beloved  granddaughter  in  the  year  1850  was 
the  first  cause  of  suggesting  to  this  aged  couple  the  idea  of 
establishing  a  church  here — which  is  now  proving  to  be  the 
light  of  the  village,  and  a  source  of  great  pleasure  to  its  first 
members. 

The  interment  of  their  granddaughter  on  Nov.  Both,  St. 
Andrew's  Day,  of  the  before- mentioned  year,  gave  rise  to 
its  name,  "St.  Andrew's  Church.''  The  church  was  opened 
for  divine  service,  on  the  third  Saturday  after  Trinity,  in 
1864,  the  Rev.  C.  H.  Gardiner  having  been  appointed  by 
the  Rt.  Rev.  Horatio  Potter,  D.  D.,  LL.  I).,  D.  C.  L.,  oxon, 
as  missionary  in  charge.  In  1861  the  missionary  stipend 
was  transferred  to  St.  John's  Church,  I  slip,  and  St.  Paul's, 
Patchogue,  and  therefore  St.  Andrew's  was  left  without  a 
settled  clergyman  for  ten  years.  Occasionally  services  were 
held  by  visiting  clergymen,  and  by  Mr.  W.  J.  Weeks,  who 
was  appointed  lay  reader  by  Bishop  Potter. 


196  FACTS    AND    FANCIES. 

Thus  the  church  struggled  along  for  twenty  years ;  yet, 
for  all,  the  courage  of  its  two  firm  friends  never  for  a  mo- 
ment failed.  But  a  brighter  day  was  dawning.  The  debt 
of  $500,  which  for  the  past  twenty  years  was  the  cause  of  its 
not  being  consecrated,  was  liquidated  in  the  year  1872  by 
Charles  Jeffery  Smith,  of  Mastic,  in  memory  of  his  wife.  In 
the  same  year,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Weeks  having  united  in  the 
gift  of  the  church  and  lot  of  ground  surrounding  it,  to  the 
Diocese  of  Long  Island,  they  executed  a  deed  to  that  effect 
to  the  Rt.  Rev.  A.  N.  Littlejohri,  D.D.,  who  was  conse- 
crated Bishop  of  the  Island  on  its  separation  from  the  Dio- 
cese of  New  York,  in  the  year  1869. 

July  14th.  1873,  this  church  was  consecrated  by  the  Rt. 
Rev.  the  Bishop  of  the  Diocese,  assisted  by  five  of  his 
clergy,  viz.  :  Revs.  Cook,  Hewlett,  Prescott,  Buckmaster 
and  Pierson.  The  Rev.  Pierson  delivered  the  sermon, 
after  which  the  Rt.  Rev.,  the  Bishop,  delivered  an  address, 
of  which  the  following  is  a  correct  extract : 

"  We  are  assembled  here  to-day  to  do  what  may  appear 
to  some  a  very  needless  thing.  It  is  now  nearly  twenty 
years  since  this  edifice  was  built.  During  all  that  time 
it  has  been  used  for  sacred  purposes.  Within  its  walls 
have  been  performed,  with  more  or  less  frequency,  the 
offices  of  our  holy  religion.  Here,  the  message  of  salva- 
tion has  been  proclaimed.  Here,  little  children  have,  by 
baptism,  been  grafted  into  the  Body  of  Christ,  and  have 
been  taught  the  way  of  God's  commandments.  Here,  the 
steps  of  youth  have  been  directed  into  the  way  of  life.  Here, 
manhood  and  womanhood  have  formed  a  heavenly  balm  to 
soothe  the  cares  and  mitigate  the  sorrows  of  this  present 
world.  Here,  old  age,  bowed  down  with  infirmities  and  op- 
pressed with  the  shadows  of  life's  evening,  has  been  taught 
to  lean  on  the  Christian's  hope,  which  is  as  an  anchor,  sure 
and  steadfast  within  the  vale.  Here,  too,  the  last  rites  have 
been  performed  over  the  dead.  And  thus,  by  baptism  and 
eucharist,  by  preaching  and  worship,  and  all  kindred  means 
of  grace,  this  place  has  come  to  be  regarded  as  the  house 


FACTS   AND   FANDIES.  197 

of  God,  and  tender  memories  and  holy  attachments  have 
grown  up  around  it.  What  more,  then,  can  we  hope  to  do 
for  this  building  by  the  services  of  this  day  ?  This  office  of 
formal  consecration  will  not  alter  a  line  or  a  timber  in  its 
structure.  It  will  add  nothing,  take  away  nothing,  visible 
to  the  eye.  And  yet,  as  Christians  and  churchmen,  we  be- 
lieve that  it  will  change  the  spiritual  character  of  this  house, 
and  fill  it  with  an  atmosphere  of  religious  feeling  to  which 
it  was  a  stranger  before.  In  our  thoughts  and  associations 
it  will  make  it  more  sacred  than  before.  To  the  eye  of  faith, 
the  divine  presence  and  blessing  will  be  vouchsafed  as  they 
were  not  in  time  past.  Heretofore  this  building  has  been 
man's  building — subjected  to  incumbrance  and  alienation. 
Henceforth  by  solemn  deed  and  covenant,  it  will  be  God's 
property,  and  set  apart  as  the  special  tabernacle  of  His 
glory.  We  are  here — we,  the  official  representatives  of  the 
church,  nay,  of  God  Himself — the  high  and  lofty  One  that 
inhabiteth  eternity — to  publicly  and  formally  accept  the 
gift,  and  to  put  upon  it  the  seal  of  divine  ownership." 

u  And  then  how  shall  I  suitably  speak  of  the  givers— 
those  aged  servants  of  Christ  who  have  so  long  and 
patiently  waited  for  this  day  ?  Their  offering  is  bathed  in 
holy  joy  and  gratulation  it  gives  up  to  God,  laden  with 
the  prayers,  the  toils  and  anxieties  of  many  years.  They 
desire  me  to  qualify  their  agency,  their  liberality,  so  far  as 
may  be  required,  by  the  grateful  acknowledgment  of  the 
gift  of  $500  from  Mr.  C.  J.  Smith,  of  Mastic,  in  memory 
of  his  deceased  wife,  who,  while  living,  was  a  warm  friend 
of  this  church. 

"  This  gift  has  canceled  the  only  debt  remaining  upon  it, 
and  prepared  the  way  for  this  service  of  consecration. 
Those  venerable  and  venerated  servants  of  God  are  near  the 
close  of  their  earthly  pilgrimage.  Their  day  is  far  spent, 
and  the  night  of  death  is  at  hand,  silvered  over  though  it 
be  with  the  sweet  and  restful  light  of  eternity.  What  they 
have  done  to  day  may  be  among  the  last  things  that  will 


198  FACTS    AND   FANCIES. 

round  out  and  finish  their  record  here  on  earth.  The  act 
itself  is  one  that  will  speak  when  they  shall  be  no  more 
seen.  Its  influence  will  be  felt  by  their  posterities.  Their 
reward  is  only  in  part  seen  now.  On  the  bright  shores  of 
the  world  unseen  they  shall  reap  the  most  of  it.  There  it 
may  be  permitted  them  to  greet  many  a  soul  that,  in  these 
courts,  will  have  been  turned  from  darkness  unto  light,  and 
from  the  power  of  Satan  unto  God.  Let  ns,  Bishop  and 
Clergy  and  people,  so  far  as  may,  enter  into  their  feel 
ing — a  feeling  which  rises  into  the  dignity  and  pathos  of 
that  holy  fervor  which  tilled  the  breast  of  aged  Simeon, 
when  he  called  upon  God  to  let  him  depart  in  peace,  now 
that  he  had  seen  the  glory  of  salvation.  God  grant  that, 
full  of  blessings  as  this  sanctuary  may  be  to  others,  it  may 
be  to  them,  when  God  shall  call  them  away,  the  bright  and 
hallowed  gateway  through  which  they  shall  pass  from  the 
storms  of  this  troublesome  world,  to  the  rest  that  remain  - 
ethfor  the  people  of  God.'"' 

At  the  close  of  this  beautiful  nn<J  impressive  address,  the 
Holy  Eucharist  was  celebrated. 

A    CONTRAST  TO-DAY. 

Denominations,  sects  and  cliques  may  contradict  the 
originality  of  opposite  organizations,  may  speak  dispar- 
agingly of  others  who  differ  in  opinion  and  sentiment,  but 
the  sensible  world  only  requires  the  practical  result. 

It  is  not  the  church,  'tis  not  religious  belief,  but  the  good 
result  that  absolutely  proves  the  real.  The  world  cares  not 
whether  a  man  be  a  Catholic  or  a  Protestant,  if  he  be  a 
good  man.  Yaphank,  or  most  of  it,  is  like  the  world. 

The  pretty  little  Episcopal  church,  with  its  talented 
young  rector,  who  came  fresh  from  the  critical  walls  of  a 
Theological  College,  are  growing  higher  and  higher  in  the 
popular  good-will  of  our  people. 

I  will  stand  responsible  for  the  declaration,  that  the 
Spurgeon  of  Brookhaven  Town  is  Rev.  Ingram  N.  W.  IT- 


FACTS   AND   FANCIES.  199 

vine,  the  most  promising  young  divine,  of  any  denomina- 
tion, in  Suffolk  County. 

My  sketch  would  be  incomplete  if  I  were  not  to  mention 
the  zealous  labors  of  Mrs.  Josephine  G.  Collyer  and  her 
gifted  family.  No  desire  for  public  applause  prompts  her 
to  shower  her  gifts  upon  the  shrine  of  her  holy  religion  ; 
and  her  sweet,  lady-like  pleasantry  is  the  natural  and  un- 
aided flow  from  a  tender  and  generous  heart.  With  a  grace 
of  heaven's  forming,  she  takes  the  poor  and  uncultured 
kindly  by  the  hand,  folds  down  the  wrinkled  home-spun, 
directs  the  doubting  heart  to  the  portals  of  life,  tells  the 
tale  of  Jesus  and  the  bleeding  side,  and  all  is  done  with  an 
unassuming,  unpretentious  grace,  and  a  smile  that  she 
must  wear,  because  she  cannot  frown. 

'Tis  the  spirit  of  other  days  that  is  raising  St.  Andrew's 
Church  ;  and  oh,  that  it  were  possible  to  engrave  the  same 
spirit  upon  the  altars  of  other  sanctuaries,  and  upon  the 
hearts  of  more  followers  of  the  "meek  and  lowly  One." 
Let  the  good  work  go  on  !  God  surely  assists  those  who 
help  themselves,  and  St.  Andrew's  pastor,  and  St.  Andrew's 
sustainers,  will  soon  see  the  bright  light  of  their  ever-burn- 
ing lamp  casting  its  heavenly  rays  into  the  places  darkened 
by  prejudice  and  sickly  dislike. 


REV.  INGRAM    N.  W.   IRVINE. 


IX. 
REV.  INGRAM  N.  W.  IRVINE. 

HIS     EARLY    STRUGGLES   AND   COLLEGIATE    ACHIEVEMENTS- 
PERSONAL. 

HIS   EARLY    STRUGGLES    AND    ACHIEVEMENTS. 

The  Rev.  Ingram  N.  W.  Irvine,'  the  present  officiating 
clergyman  of  St.  Andrew's  Church,  is  not  an  American  by 
birth.  He  was  born  in  the  town  of  Kenmare.  Kerry  Co., 
Ireland,  July  8th,  1856. 

His  father,  Nathaniel  Irvine,  a  gentleman  of  vast  estate, 
was  a  member  of  the  Anglican  church,  and  his  mother  a 
member  of  the  Roman. 

Though  differing  in  points  of  doctrine,  they  did  not  ne- 
glect the  spiritual  training  of  their  son,  who  was  baptized 
and  carefully  reared  in  the  Anglican  church. 

His  father  becoming  entangled  in  debt,  by  going  security 
for  certain  extravagant  friends,  his  whole  property  at  length 
fell  into  the  Court  of  Chancery.  This  change  in  fortune  de- 
termined the  elder  brother  and  sister  to  come  to  America. 
Their  mother  was  unwilling  that  her  children  should  leave 
home  alone  at  such  an  early  age,  and  decided  to  accompany 
them,  and,  after  a  few  years,  return  to  Ireland. 

She  intended  leaving  her  youngest  son,  Ingram,  in  Dublin, 
with  his  father,  that  he  might  read  law  with  his  uncle,  Rob- 
ert Harvey  Irvine,  a  solicitor  of  high  repute.  But  Ingram 
was  unwilling  to  adopt  this  profession  as  his  calling  in  life, 
and  with  the  firm  intention,  if  possible,  to  study  for  the 
ministry,  he  came  with  them  to  America,  arriving  in  New 
York,  May  13th,  1866. 


204  FACTS   AND   FANCIES. 

He  pursued  a  course  of  navigation  in  the  N.  Y.  Nautical 
School,  at  the  end  of  which  he  became  a  student  in  St. 
Stephen's  College,  Annandale,  N.  Y.  Thence  he  entered  a 
Union  Seminary,  in  which  was  taught,  as  he  terms  it,  "a 
conglomeration  of  Catholic  truth  and  Calvinistic  error." 

Although  having  passed  through  the  junior  class  of  this 
institution,  he  became  dissatish'ed  with  his  course,  and  in 
the  following  October,  1871,  he  entered  the  General  Theolo- 
gical Seminary,  with  the  famous  class  whose  gentlemanly 
conduct  and  mental  superiority  will  not  soon  be  forgotten 
by  their  Alma  Mater. 

During  the  first  two  years  of  Ms  course  in  the  General 
Theological  Seminary,  he  assisted  the  Rev.  James  Millet, 
D.D.,  rector  of  the  church  of  the  Holy  Martyrs,  N.  Y. 

In  his  senior  year  he  connected  himself  with  the  Associate 
Mission  of  Long  Island.  He  was  transferred,  by  his  own 
request,  from  the  diocese  of  New  York,  to  Long  Island, 
May  27th,  and  was  ordained  on  Trinity  Sunday,  by  the 
Rt.  Rev.  A.  N.  Littlejohn,  D.D.,  and  immediately  took 
charge  of  St.  Andrew's  Church,  Yaphank,  and  St.  James', 
Brookhaven. 

PERSONAL. 

Mr.  Irvine  is  a  pleasant  gentleman,  with  a  college  finish 
and  student  air  about  him.  He  has  a  true  Catholic  spirit, 
and  is  free  from  the  taint  of  assumed  vainness  and  ostenta- 
tion. His  tact  is  displayed  in  his  management  of  the 
churches  over  which  he  is  pastor. 

Those  who  see  Mr.  Irvine  in  public,  know  little  of  the 
spirit  slumbering  in  the  man.  Not  a  particle  of  haughti- 
ness or  codfish-ela,tion  is  in  his  composition.  He  gracefully 
recognizes  the  rich  in  silk  and  satin,  and  as  eagerly  and 
pleasantly  receives  the  humble  in  station  and  life.  He 
answers  the  complicated  questions  directed  at  his  faith  by 
the  learned,  and  cheers  the  bare-foot  school -boy  with  kind 
greetings,  and  does  it  all  with  an  unchanged  and  natural 
air. 


FACTS    AND    FANCIES.  205 

His  reading  is  extensive.  He  believes  Christianity  en- 
circles social,  moral,  and  political  life.  He  holds  up  to 
scorn  sickly  doctrines  which  cannot  be  proven  scripturally 
and  historically.  Mr.  Irvine  preaches  for  all.  The  clerks 
behind  the  counter,  and  the  professional  man,  can  learn 
something  from  his  sermons.  In  dress  and  habits  he  is 
simple  and  plain. 

The  old-school  merchants  are  the  only  true  schools,  but 
the  new  school  ministers  are  decidedly  the  most  popular. 
Mr.  Irvine  is  of  the  new  school.  He  comprehends  the  vital 
importance  of  thoroughly  impressing  the  truths  of  his  ser- 
mons upon  the  minds  of  his  hearers,  and  he  preaches  with 
his  tongue,  his  heart,  and  his  actions.  His  logic  is  often 
irresistible,  his  eloquence  frequently  fascinating,  and  his 
arguments  always  substantial. 

When  he  came  to  Yaphank,  some  gazed  with  jealous  eyes 
upon  the  young  student.  He  labored  on.  He  preached 
the  solid  fact,  and  preached  it  right.  Gradually  the  hearts 
of  the  people  went  out  towards  the  energetic  young  man, 
who  bade  farewell  to  his  home  and  father  in  the  Emerald 
Isle  to  complete  his  study  and  preach  the  religion  of  the 
true  God,  in  America.  Gradually  their  hearts  opened,  and 
he  poured  in  the  sweet  truths  of  the  Great  Book.  He  paved 
a  flowery  way  into  their  good-will,  and  now,  to-day,  Ingram 
N.  W.  Irvine  is  esteemed  as  a  good,  gifted,  and  promising 
young  divine. 


X. 
THE  SUFFOLK  COUNTY  ALMS-HOUSE. 

A  MODEL  HOME  FOR  THE  POOR — THE  FARM — THE  HOUSE— 
THE  MAIN  BUILDING — DIVISION  OF  SEXES— THE  AT- 
TENDING PHYSICIAN — WILLIAM  J.  WEEKS — EDWARD  L. 
GERARD— DOCT.  HOLDEN. 

When  the  project  of  centering  the  pauperism  of  our 
county  in  one  institution  was  first  presented,  the  thinking 
ones  were  doubtful  about  the  economy  and  practicability  of 
the  proposed  system,  and  questioned  whether  the  abolish- 
ment of  the  Town -houses  would  not  establish  a  disgraceful 
and  illy-managed  hot-bed  of  county  corruption,  poverty 
and  expense. 

What  fears  existed,  soon  vanished,  and  the  people  voted 
,  for,  and  soon  began  the  erection  of, 

A  MODEL    HOME    FOR  THEIR    POOR. 

The  Suffolk  County  Aims-House,  at  Yaphank,  is  publicly 
and  universally  regarded  "as  probably  the  best  for  the 
purpose  for  which  it  is  intended,  of  any  in  New  York 
State." 

Very  few  people  on  the  Island,  comparatively  speaking, 
are  aware  that  such  a  systematical,  economical,  and  well- 
regulated  institution  exists  so  near  them. 

Everywhere  about  the  place  there  hovers  an  air  of  stern, 
yet  pleasing  discipline  and  exactness  ;  and  the  rules  of 
the  house  are  rigid,  but  reasonable. 


208  FACTS   AND   FANCIES. 

THE   FARM. 

The  farm  was  purchased  in  1870,  of  William  Phillips, 
Esq.,  a  Yaphank  man,  for  twelve  thousand  seven  hundred 
dollars,  for  which  amount  the  county  pays  him  interest. 

It  contains  about  eighty  acres  of  highly-cultivated  land, 
and  ninety  of  growing  wood-land.  Nearly  one-half  is 
cultivated,  and  the  paupers  are  constantly  employed  break- 
ing up  new  land.  The  farm  is  convenient,  and  easily  tilled. 
It  lies  in  a  square,  level  body,  and  is  very  fertile.  The  re- 
cent owner  made  a  snug  fortune  on  the  same  farm,  before 
it  was  cultivated  to  its  present  highly-productive  state,  and 
our  county  should  roll  up  another,  in  its  present  condition. 

A  certain  class  here  are  never  weary  in  extolling  the 
managers  of  this  self-supporting  affair,  and  praising  the 
well-oiled  system  in  the  House  and  on  the  Farm.  None 
can  deny  that  all  concerned  deserve  medals  for  the  remark- 
able order  they  instituted  over  the  chaos ;  but  the  county 
pays  for  this  system,  and  supplies  implements,  manures, 
and  every  necessary  article  for  properly  conducting  one  of 
the  finest  estates  in  the  county.  The  affair  should  be  "  self- 
supporting."  Those  of  the  paupers  that  are  able,  are  re- 
quired to  work  eight  hours  each  day — Sundays  excepted— 
and  when  the  weather  is  unpleasant,  they  do  the  jn-door 
work  of  the  House  and  Farm.  Not  only  is  basket-making, 
coopering,  and  other  trades  represented,  but  finety-finished 
wagons  have  been  manufactured  on  the  premises. 

If  the  one  hundred  and  seventy  acres  of  land,  properly 
managed,  cannot  support  an  average  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  paupers,  who  can  be  clothed  and  fed  for 
''about  ninety -five  cents  a  week,  for  each  one,"  this  model 
home  for  unfortunates  had  better  be  evacuated.  The  many 
articles  manufactured  on  the  premises,  are  sold,  of  course, 
to  the  interest  of  the  county,  and  must  assist  in  defraying 
minor  expenses. 

To  the  original  cost  of  the  establishment  was  appended 
over  five  thousand  dollars  in  repairing  the  building,  and 


FACTS   AND   FANCIES. 

making  improvements  about  the  grounds.  Much  of  the 
land  has  been  recently  fenced,  the  barns  have  been  reno- 
vated, and  surprising  improvements  made  everywhere. 

THE   HOUSE. 

The  engraving  of  the  house  is  a  correct  one.  The 
grounds  are  tastily  arranged,  and  all  the  surroundings 
present  a  neat  and  cheering  appearance.  So  many  elabor- 
ate descriptions  of  the  building  are  before  the  public,  that 
any  attempt  to  give  further  details  might  be  termed  decided 
plagiarism.  Of  the  many  representations,  Richard  M. 
Bayles's  is  considered  the  most  reliable  and  authentic. 

The  entire  building  contains  about  fifty  rooms.  The  first 
floor  contains  eighteen  large  rooms,  the  second  twenty- 
seven,  and  the  third  but  four.  The  superintendents',  over- 
seers', and  assistants'  private  apartments,  are  on  the  first 
and  second  floors  of  the  main  building  ;  and  the  engineer's 
and  medical  room  are  included  in  the  number. 

THE   MAIN    BUILDING 

is  three-stories  high,  the  wings  two-stories,  and  the  entire 
southern  front  is  one  hundred  and  ninety  feet.  A  brick 
basement  extends  under  the  whole  building.  Trenches  two 
feet  deep,  tilled  with  stone  and  mortar,  form  the  foundation. 
Three  large  water  tanks  in  the  garrets,  with  a  capacity  of 
three  thousand  gallons  each,  supply  the  house  with  the  in- 
dispensable fluid,  which  is  replenished  from  the  roof,  or 
pumped  from  a  well  in  the  basement.  A  hall-way  runs 
east  and  west  through  the  centre  of  the  building,  which 
connects  with  every  room  on  the  main  floor  by  doors.  A 
similar  hall  on  the  story  above  communicates  with  the 
rooms  on  the  second  floor.  The  north  and  south  passage, 
which  opens  north  from  the  long  hall  in  the  centre  building, 
is  accessible  by  stairs  from  the  rear.  This  passage-way 
connects  with  the  rooms  where  are  confined  the  milder  class 

14 


FACTS   AND    FANCIES. 

of  lunatic  paupers.  Partitions  separate  the  inmates  of 
either  end  of  the  house.  The  propriety  of 

DIVIDING  THE   SEXES, 

is  here  forcibly  illustrated.  The  females  occupy  the  east- 
ern portion  of  the  house,  and  the  males  the  western.  Sepa- 
rate stairways  lead  to  their  respective  precincts,  and  exit 
doors  to  the  separate  yards  in  the  rear.  The  kitchen  and 
laundry  are  in  the  rear  of  the  main  building,  and  the  din- 
ing-rooms in  the  rear  of  the  wings. 

The  workshop,  storage-rooms,  drying-room,  coal  and  en- 
gine rooms  are  in  the  basement,  which  also  contains  cells 
for  the  raving  lunatics. 

A  powerful  engine  in  the  basement  supplies  the  boilers, 
which  have  pipes  attached  that  pass  through  every  room. 

The  heating  apparatus  is  excellent — the  entire  cost  of 
which  was  eleven  thousand  dollars. 

Hose,  which  can  quickly  be  connected  with  the  water- 
tanks  in  the  garrets,  are  carefully  coiled  in  the  halls,  ready 
for  instant  use  in  case  of  fire. 

THE  ATTENDING  PHYSICIAN 

has  a  medical  room  on  the  second  floor,  with  all  the  neces- 
sary drugs  and  medicines.  The  physician  of  the  House  at 
the  present  time  is  Doct.  James  I.  Baker  ;  and  his  success 
entitles  him  to  much  credit. 

The  laws  of  the  Institution  are  stern  but  reasonable,  and 
are  enforced  to  the  letter.  The  paupers  are  obliged  to  retire 
at  dusk,  and  to  rise  as  soon  as  the  first  gray  light  of  dawn 
peeps  through  the  windows.  The  inmates  are  managed  by 
signals  ;  in  fact,  everything  goes  by  "  cracks  and  snaps." 

A  flowery  penned  reporter  of  a  city  paper  says  :  '  'After 
rising,  the  pauper  makes  his  bed,  sweeps  his  room,  and  pre- 
pares for  the  morning  meal.  The  first  bell  rings  out  an  inti- 
mation to  be  in  readiness  for  breakfast,  and  at  the  sound  of 
the  second  bell,  the  door  of  the  dining-room  is  thrown  open 


FACTS   AND   FANCIES.  211 

and  he  is  requested  to  be  seated.  At  the  'snap'  of  the 
third  bell,  he  begins  eating.  The  sane  and  insane  eat  sep- 
arately, and  so  admirable  is  the  discipline,  that  not  even  a 
lunatic  pauper  touches  his  food  until  he  hears  the  signal 
from  the  keeper." 

"  On  the  first  floor  in  the  wing  of  the  building,  cripples  are 
kept  in  several  rooms,  but  allowed  the  free  use  of  the  halls 
and  ground  to  hobble  in  and  out  at  pleasure.  A  bath-room 
on  the  same  floor  contributes  to  the  cleanliness  and  comfort 
of  the  inmates.'" 

When  admitted  into  the  House,  the  pauper  undergoes  a 
thorough  examination.  In  the  examining  department  he 
is  thoroughly  questioned,  stripped  of  all  clothing,  shaved, 
washed,  and  clothed  in  warm,  clean  clothing.  He  is  then 
examined  as  to  his  physical  abilities.  If  ailing,  he  is  sent 
to  the  hospital  department ;  if  able  to  labor,  he  is  required 
to  work  eight  hours  a  day,  at  the  labor  he  is  best  adapted  to. 

The  ' '  Charities'  Aid  Society' '  comprises  some  of  the 
most  wealthy  and  benevolent  people  in  our  County,  and 
has  contributed  much  toward  appeasing  the  minor  wants 
of  the  poor  unfortunates.  Many  heart-sick  paupers  have 
been  cheered  and  made  happy  by  the  Heavenly  efforts  of 
this  Heaven-inspired  Society  ;  and  should  misfortune  ever 
come  to  any  of  its  noble  sustainers,  as  come  it  may  to  all, 
may  kind  faces  beam  upon  them,  and  their  hearts  laugh  for 
the  good  works  that  are  not  forgotten. 

The  following  named  gentlemen   are   prominently  con- 
nected with  the  County  House : 
Architect : — CHARLES  HALLET,  Riverhead. 
Builders  : — RANDALL  BROS.,  Greenpoint. 
Mason  :— ISRAEL  REED, 

!WM.  R.  POST,  Southampton. 
LYMAN  B.  SMITH,  Smithtown,  B. 
F.  H.  OVERTON,  Southold. 
(  STEPHEN  R.  WILLIAMS,  Amityville. 
Superintendents  :—  <  T.  COR  WIN,  Riverhead. 

I  E.  HAMPTON,  Mulford,  Orient. 
Overseer  : — JOHN  LOUDEN,  Amityville. 


212  FACTS   AND   FANCIES. 

From  the  observatory  to  the  basement  the  house  is  a 
model  affair,  and  Old  Suffolk  may  well  feel  proud  of  the 
institution  that  is  considered  the  best  of  its  class  in  N.  Y. 
State. 

WILLIAM  J.  WEEKS. 

No  man  that  has  ever  been  connected  with  the  County 
House  has  been  as  basely  misrepresented  as  Mr.  Weeks.  A 
large  portion  of  the  "  admirable  discipline,"  "  excellent  reg- 
ulations," "unrivaled  system,"  &c.,  were  first  instituted  by 
him.  Men  envious  of  him,  abused  his  best  works.  He 
labored  for  the  public  good,  and  I  can  prove  it.  Schemers 
heaped  faggots  of  venom  upon  the  fires  of  jealousy,  and 
because  they  could  not  govern  him,  endeavored  to  haul  him 
and  his  name  over  the  coals.  The  beautiful  pictures  drawn 
by  roving  reporters  and  local  dabblers  sound  very  nice  to 
indifferent  outsiders,  but  we  here  in  pent-up  Y-  -know 
a  little  more — and  but  a  little,  for  it  requires  a  wise  one  to 
know  the  whole. 

Mr.  Weeks  is  an  honorable  man,  and  those  who  know 
him  best  honor  him  most. 

EDWARD  L.  GERARD. 

Mr.  Gerard's  connection  with  the  House  was  a  mutually 
pleasant  one.  No  one  could  give  more  entire  satisfaction 
than  he.  He  is  a  thorough  business  man,  and  was 
thoroughly  competent  to  transact  every  portion  that  de- 
volved upon  him.  His  recent  defeat  was  much  regretted 
by  those  acquainted  with  his  excellent  management,  and 
was  regarded  as  one  of  the  cruel  reverses  of  political  life. 

If  there  wer^  deception  in  tranascting  the  County  affairs, 
Mr.  Gerard  was  no  accessory.  If  there  were  a  "ring" 
during  his  term  of  office,  he  was  a  missing  link. 

Scheming,  oily-tongued  outsiders,  with  their  own  interest 
in  view,  may  have  endeavored  to  culminate  their  plans 
through  him,  but  it  never  will  be  credited  that  Mr.  Gerard 
ever,  knowingly,  assisted  in  forwarding  their  schemes. 


FACTS    AND   FANCIES.  213 

DR.  E.  H.  S.  HOLDEN. 

This  genial  and  gifted  gentleman  entered  the  House  as  a 
"ministering  angel,"  Jan.  1st,  1873.  Whether  he  failed  to 
kill  off  the  paupers  as  fast  as  a  miserly  element  wished,  is 
unknown  ;  but  it  is  enough  to  know  that  he  had  hardly  got 
in  his  position  before  his  foes  clamored  to  get  him  out. 

No  reasonable  objection  could  be  produced  against  him. 
unless  it  was  the  death  of  only  one  pauper  during  his  whole 
term  of  office.  He  never  said  that  "paupers  were  better 
dead  than  alive,"  and  his  acts  portrayed  his  skill,  and  his 
tender  heart. 

In  the  performance  of  his  duty  he  might  have  felt  con- 
tempt for  the  daily  exposure  to  the  presumption  of  prepos- 
terous pragmatism,  but  when  interference  with  the  duties  of 
his  office  prevented  him  from  protecting  the  county  from 
the  possibility  of  imposition,  his  sense  of  honesty  was  in- 
compatible with  a  further  continuance  under  such  restric- 
tions. At  the  expiration  of  the  first  quarter,  the  Superin- 
tendents proposing  to  adopt  such  measures  as  would,  in  Dr. 
Holden's  opinion,  be  the  most  effective  means  of  favoring 
imposition,  he  tendered  his  resignation. 


FAREWELL. 


MY       LAST       REVIEW. 
THE     PEOPLE. 

And  now,  kind  friends,  attention  lend, 

The  pages  back  retrace, 
While  I  review  this  book  for  you — 

The  people  and  the  place. 
Ere  I  "  unbend,"  please  condescend 

To  let  your  ears  "  luff;" 
With  partial  eyes  skip  o'er  the  lies, 

And  all  that  sort  of  stuff. 

I  first,  you  know,  to  please  you,  show 

My  own  sweet  featur'd  (?)  face  ; 
Which,  friends  have  said,  proves  me  ill-bred, 

And  will  my  work  disgrace. 
Next,  John  P.  Mills  the  office  fills 

Of  Governor,  I  ween; 
Sharp,  shrewd  and  smart,  he  built  a  mart 

Where  rich  and  poor  convene. 

Thus,  next  in  line,  I  do  opine, 

Is  Robert  H.  Gerard — 
A  noble  man — earth  never  can 

Grant  him  his  just  reward. 
The  next  theme  speaks  of  William  Weeks — 

A  true  and  trusted  man, 
Who  ev'ry  day  proves  what  I  say  ; 

Deny  it  if  you  can  ! 


FACTS    AND    FANCIES.  215 


Up  in  Old  Yale  his  hearty  hail, 
Once  cheer'd  the  college  boys, 

And  classic  pride — his  Honor's  guide- 
Now  wells  his  quiet  joys. 

A  contrast  here,  there  will  appear, 
By  D.  D.  Sweezy  made ; 

A  man  of  wealth,  but  not  of  health, 
Who  knows  that  both  must  fade  ! 


Words  I  conduce  to  introduce 

You  Edward  Wickham  Mills ; 
High  in  his  place,  with  natural  grace, 

That  charms,  and  after,  thrills. 
A  firm  recluse  I  introduce — 

'Tis  Alfred  Ackerly ; 
A  Christian  man,  nor  cliques  nor  clan 

Doubt  his  true  purity. 


There  is  a  man  who  life  began 

With  high  and  lofty  aim  ; 
For  ev'ry  heart  loves  ev'ry  part 

Of  Dea.  Norton's  name. 
And  by  his  side,  with  pompous  pride, 

John  Hammond  writes  his  name  ; 
The  man  of  sole,  who  knows  the  whole, 

What'e'er  may  be  the  theme. 


I'll  next  present,  with  your  consent, 

S.  Lester  Homan,  sir; 
Whoseenterpri.se  all  criticize, 

Whose  honor  we  prefer  ! 
Without  a  blur,  you  must  concur, 

Stands  S.  B.  Overtoil, 
A  Christian  gent  who  is  content 

With  what  his  works  have  won. 


216  FACTS    AND    FANCIES. 

E.  L.  Gerard — we  must  award 

The  honor  he  deserves — 
To  duty's  call — he's  all-in-all — 

From  right  he  never  swerves. 
A  mantle  black  lies  in  the  track 

Of  Samuel  Smith's  last  days — 
Sadness,  indeed,  you  must  concede, 

His  blameless  act  conveys. 


And  now  again  the  simple  name 

Of  Homan,  I  declare  ! 
'Tis  Edward  H.,  although  not  great, 

Is  honest,  fair  and  square.  - 
Who  has  success  must  now  confess 

That  doctors  have  it  too, 
For  Dr.  B.,  as  you  can  see, 

Has  found  it  all  way  through. 


I  now  again  the  funny  name 

Of  Homan  iterate ; 
'Tis  Mordecai,  bold,  brave  and  free, 

Who's  been  a  traveler  great. 
Next  I  will  tell  and  fondly  dwell 

Upon  the  name  I  scan, 
For  dear  to  me,  and  e'er  will  be, 

This  fine  old  gentleman. 


When  others  frown,  would  pull  me  down, 

My  old  friend  stands  the  same ; 
If  there's  a  thing  sweet  memories  bring, 

'Tis  Doctor  Holden's  name. 
Nat.  Tuthill  now  will  tell  you  how 

He  made  the  •'  stamps  "  when  young  ; 
'Twill  please  you,  too,  to  listen  to 

His  smooth  and  oily  tongue. 


FACTS    AND   FANCIES..  217 

Next  in  the  void  comes  Mr.  Floyd, 
A  man  of  noble  rank, 

Who  dwells  alone  in  the  quiet  home 
He  chose  in  old  Yaphank. 

George  Thompson  now  will  make  his  bow, 
While  ladies  hold  their  hearts ; 

Though  young  in  years  he  has  few  peers- 
Is  honorable,  is  smart. 


A  moment   heed,  'tis  Alfred  Reid, 

On  whom  the  Fates  did  frown; 
Who'd  friends  enough  while  he  was  up, 

But  prov'd  them  foes  when  down  ! 
Where  is  the  man  more  popular  than 

James  Huggins  Weeks,  Esqr.  ? 
Whose  lofty  name  none  can  defame, 

And  time  will  not  impair ; 


An  honest  friend,  who  will  defend 
The  right  against  the  wrong, 

Who  loves  to  see  all  unity — 
To  make  the  weak  ones  strong. 

God  bless  the  man !    he  leads  the  van 
Of  noble  men  in  Y—      — , 

He's  wronged  no  heart  of  the  smallest  part- 
No  bosom  of  a  sigh ! 


The  low  in  state,  the  high  and  great, 

Love  Sidney  Smith,  I  know; 
For  that  proud  name  shines  out  the  same 

As  in  the  long  ago. 
His  generous  deeds  the  poor  man  feeds 

With  "  crumbs  of  comfort  "  oft. 
He  makes  the  sad  and  sick  heart  glad, 

The  couch  of  mis'ry  soft ! 

16 


218  PACTS    AND    FANCIES. 

And  rich  in  name — in  voice  the  same, 

Is  Sidney  Ritch,  Esqr. ; 
Whose  jolly  jokes  mirth  still  provokes 

The  people  all  declare. 
Now  at  the  last,  though  high  as  class'd, 

Stands  Ingram  H.  Irvine, 
A  classic  youth,  who  preaches  truth — 

An  eloquent  divine. 


THE    PLACE. 

'Tis  picturesque — this  quiet  home 

Of  poverty  and  pride, 
Where  Mammon  rears  a  gilded  dome, 

And  paupers  do  reside. 
'Tis  soft  and  pure — the  inland  air 

That  fans  the  dales  and  hills 
Of  auld  Yaphank  ;  and  tell  me  where 

Man  has  less  torturing  ills  ? 

Here  crescent  youth  grows  hale  and  strong, 

And  grey-haired  age  lives  on 
To  tell  old  tales  in  red,  ripe  song, 

And  tell  the  tales  anon. 
Here  pale,  wan  cheeks  are  painted  bright — 

Like  roses  in  the  bud — 
By  Health's  red  brush,  which  paints  aright 

The  cheek,  and  sluggsish  blood. 


The  sluggish  blood !  the  sluggish  blood  ! 

God  grant  may  drip  and  die, 
Until  an  enterprising  flood 

Rolls  o'er  the  hills  of  Y-       - ! 
Rolls  o'er  her  hills !  rolls  o'er  her  vales ! 

Rolls  o'er  her  people's  way ! 
Until  the  dreaming  yeoman  hails 

A  bright  and  sunny  day  ! 


FACTS   AND   FANCIES.  219 

Here  breezes  waft  in  balmy  flakes 

The  sweet,  sweet  seeds  of  health, 
While  singing  streams  and  limpid  lakes 

Roll  over  untold  wealth  ! 
Roll  over  untold  wealth,  my  friends, 

That  long,  long  years  has  lain, 
Like  priceless  pearls,  whose  glow  depends 

On  efforts  made  again. 

No  hero  great  this  place  can  boast, 

No  sage  of  high  degree, 
And  only  dabblers,  at  the  most, 

Write  up  its  history. 
No  lyric  poet  sang  her  fame 

Within  the  darkling  dell ; 
Nor  sculptor  great  e'er  carv'd  the  name 

Of  Yapharik,  to  excel. 

No  painter  ever  drew  the  pen 

For  this  far  inland  Rome, 
And  no  great  author  wrote  of  men 

Who  make  Yaphank  their  home ; 
But  honor's  counsels  guide  with  care 

The  staid  old  villagers, 
For  we've  none  great — if  any  are, 

They're  "  local  editors." 


Then  old,  old  home,  of  good  and  bad, 

'Tis  fare-thee-well — farewell ! 
I  am  not  sad,  I  am  not  glad, 

Still  fare-thee-well — farewell ! 
Begone,  dull  day !  begone,  dull  dame 

And  break,  oh  !  break  the  chain, 
That  long,  long  years  has  bound  the  name 

Of  Yaphank  in  disdain  ! 


220  FACTS    AND    FANCIES. 


ATM  KIT 


Tho'  you  I  bore,  one  moment  more, 

Kind  friend,  before  we  part, 
Here  is  my  hand,  my  friendship  and 

Well  wishes  from  my  heart! 
Think  well  of  me,  though  wrong  I  be, 

Forever  be  it  well ; 
And  let  the  end  part  you  my  friend, 

Part  with  a  kind  FAREWELL. 


FINIS. 


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